The national wave of store closings or downsizing from major retailers like JC Penney, Macy’s, Sears and Kmart, among others, presents a challenge and an opportunity for shopping center owners.

The Challenge

Better reposition centers to re-use vacant/downsized retailers to enhance customer experience.

The Solution

Re-use and reposition shopping centers as entertainment destinations, with theaters and restaurants to complement experience-oriented retail stores.

Graycor engages early on to provide expert analysis of existing space and redevelopment plans at the outset to help owners to understand the cost ramifications of different scenarios, e.g., knock it down and rebuild versus modify existing building, and select the best option. Redevelopment is a highly complex process that requires a project team with the relevant experience and processes in place to help owners choose the right course and see it through to a successful completion.

Graycor is tackling the challenges of vacant anchor store redevelopment and shopping center repositioning in our current portfolio of work:

Westfield Valley Fair Theatre Expansion, San Jose, CA – Construction of a two-level mall expansion adjacent to/over an existing operational mall entrance on a “zero lot line” site at the popular Bay area shopping destination.
Oakbrook Center Sears Redevelopment, Oakbrook IL – Partial demolition and reconstruction of existing vacant anchor store structure over/around existing tenants to deliver new tenant shell space with increased ceiling heights, structural capacity and vertical transportation.

Northridge Mall JC Penney Redevelopment, Salinas, CA – Redevelopment of existing vacant store to lower-level mall common area and GLA and upper-level tenant shell space. Scope includes carbon fiber reinforcing of existing concrete structure for increased capacity, new vertical transportation, new mall entrance and new restrooms.

As a builder of retail and entertainment spaces for more than 25 years, Graycor offers unique insight and expertise to our clients, allowing them to make the most informed decisions and tackle some of the biggest challenges as they reposition and expand their centers. Additionally, our Live Environment work methodology which anticipates and avoids disruption in planning, scheduling and executing the work efficiently, has been successfully applied to shopping centers across the country for major owners like Simon Property Group, GGP, Westfield Corporation, Rouse Properties and Starwood Retail Partners.