An ambitious strategy to right-size and reimagine Davenport’s NorthPark Mall as a hub of activity that mixes housing with retail and must-do experiences is expected to be in the hands of a working group this fall.
Bruce Berger, the City of Davenport’s community and economic development director, told the QCBJ recently that once formed the informal group of leaders and stakeholders will begin meeting to assess the plan. It is likely to include Macerich, the largest landowner in NorthPark Mall, and other major tenants such as Von Maur, whose properties would be impacted by any changes.
That working group’s general objective, Mr. Berger said, will be “helping to guide individual and collective efforts and strategies in moving forward with components in the recommendations” contained in the NorthPark Mall Market Analysis and Use Strategy Final Report.
Among its recommendations are demolishing portions of the mall and relocating tenants to make way for new housing and other development.
That 64-page document was created by Portland, Oregon-based Leland Consulting Group, Greensfelder Real Estate Strategy and Confluence. Davenport hired Leland Consulting in August of 2023 and agreed to pay the consultant $100,000 for its work on the document.
The final report, which was presented to the city in May and accepted by the council in August, centers on the consulting group’s “big idea” or vision for the aging traditional mall at 320 W. Kimberly Road that was built in 1973 and expanded over the years. That report’s new vision for the shopping district is as “a vibrant, mixed-use destination and live-work-play district that evolves from its retail roots into a hub that offers something to all members of the community.“
How to make it happen
To help get there, the NorthPark Mall report lays out three broad strategies.
- Right-size a mall which may be near or at a turning point “from which it may not be able to recover.” By downsizing the mall’s space,” Leland Consulting said, “the property faces less risk in maintaining desired levels of occupancy.”
- Create The Place: Retail activity in the city has shifted to the east due to infrastructure improvements in that area, especially development of Interstate 74, the report said. This new strategy suggests that “to redefine the NorthPark area as one of Davenport’s great neighborhoods, investment in infrastructure and public space are needed.”
- Activate the district: The current retail trend is to go beyond providing goods and services people need by providing specialty offerings – luxuries people want rather than need – and experiences. The latter, the report said, could include “out-of-the-box” additions such as performing arts.
Regarding right-sizing, the consulting team recommends that mall owner Macerich reduce its gross leasable area, while leaving a portion of the mall property empty for future development. Strategies include demolishing the northeastern wing of the mall between JCPenney and Von Maur. That includes the old Sears department store. The plan also envisions relocating Von Maur as a freestanding development closer to the mall’s entrance to act as a gateway to the redeveloped shopping center.
At the same time, the report said, “stronger retail tenants” in that area should be relocated to vacant spaces in the western wing, thus reducing the mall square footage by 350,000 square feet. The remaining open space in the mall could be used to diversify the retail center through targeted recruitment of retailers and other uses.
Why right-size?
Consultants say right-sizing malls to lower occupancy rates helps increase foot traffic to existing stores, prevents additional escalation in tenant loss and ensures the mall does not incur additional costs such as rent reductions, which can occur if it goes below 30% occupancy, the Leland report said.
The strategic plan also includes two concepts for the areas created by right-sizing the sprawling building. One suggests replacing the demolished retail space with single- and multi-family housing and incorporating open space near the mall’s entrance for public gatherings and events. The second strategy calls for replacing mall space with the single-family and multi-family housing while adding some mixed-use development.
The report noted that “Like many malls and retailers, NorthPark Mall in Davenport has faced challenges in recent years.” Among them is the loss of anchor stores, Sears and Younkers, in 2018. “Its remaining tenants face challenges including competition from e-commerce and the need to adapt to other changes in consumer preferences,” consultants said.
One way to help them do that is redeveloping NorthPark Mall as “THE place to live and shop,” the report said. In essence, Leland Consulting’s blueprint calls for activating the mall district by creating ways to bring people to the district and give them reasons to “linger longer” when they’re there.
Initial steps in that process include creating a physical plan that spells out the land use, infrastructure and open space vision that will redefine NorthPark as “one of Davenport’s great urban neighborhoods.”
Placemaking is key
Placemaking examples in the report include creating public spaces and parks; adding streetscape improvements, wayfinding signage, public art, community events and festivals; providing a base for youth programs; and adding retail pop-up shops. In addition, programming would be created to promote the destination.
Consultants sprinkled the report with case studies that incorporated a mix of uses in existing mall areas including educational institutions, health care facilities, fitness studios, co-working space and residential developments.
The report quoted in part the 2023 Forbes article on mall redevelopment headlined, “How to Bring ‘Zombie Malls’ Back to Life.”
That report said a “community-centric mall must be a fun place to go, not just a place to shop.” For example, “dining options add an experiential element, but it needs more than that, such as park-like play areas for kids, interactive local art and museum exhibits, concert venues, lending libraries and sporting activities for various ages.”
Diversifying and strengthening NorthPark’s tenant mix will help do that, the Leland Consulting report said. And it outlined options ranging from “creative reuse of existing retail space for the performing arts to adding state-of-the-art, new facilities — such as Northgate Mall’s ice rink for Seattle’s professional hockey team. Programming without changes to the space — such as farmers markets and community events — can also have a significant impact with putting the mall on the map and should be a part of the nearer-term redevelopment strategy.”
Housing in demand
While the addition of things like health care offices and educational institutions might be worth revisiting in the next decade or so, the report recommends concentrating in the near term on “middle housing” such as townhomes.
The document said nearly 1,900 additional housing units are expected to be needed in the Quad Cities by 2034. It anticipated overall demand for 2,106 new housing units overall or about 200 per year.
With the additional need for housing to serve the workers at the new additions that will be added to the NorthPark Mall redevelopment area, the authors estimated that “the NorthPark Mall area can capture demand for approximately 350 of the new units in demand in the Iowa Quad Cities over the next decade.”
The report’s conclusion promises “Successful redevelopment of NorthPark Mall holds enormous potential for the City of Davenport. The mall’s redevelopment into a vibrant, mixed-use destination presents the opportunity for meeting many community needs – including housing, new public gathering spaces, everyday shopping, as well as new niche shopping experiences.”
In doing so, the study said, “the city and mall owner will enjoy benefits similar to those seen by many other communities that have pursued mall redevelopments over the years.”
