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Since the mall is being managed by the same company that manages a competing mall across the street, is it any wonder that there are lots of vacancies? If the Woodmont Co., Fort Worth, Texas, can get great commercial tenants for the mall across the street, but not for the Muncie Mall, they are actively keeping the Muncie Mall from being a successful mall. WPG needs to hire another management company! There are plenty out there, who will actively market and negotiate to get some good retailers, restaurants and entertainment venues back in the Muncie Mall. A Commercial Real Estate Brokerage should be hired to list and actively market the vacancies to national and regional Tenants. Obviously, Woodmont Co. is not doing that. No wonder Woodmont declined to comment for this article. Commercial real estate is a very competitive business. The article states "WPG also has owned the shopping center across the street from the mall that houses AMC Theatres, Kohl's, T.J. Maxx, Old Navy and other tenants." Does WPG still own that mall? (I'm a former shopping center owner). PS. Love the students' ideas about how to bring the mall into the 21st century. If there were charging stations in Muncie, I'd bring my EV to Muncie! And the 25 acre retention ponds being developed and protected as wetlands with pathways ~ great idea! Having the mall opened up with outdoor walkways, cafes, and entertainment experience uses would be great, but with the winter weather, maybe some part of it should remain enclosed so people can enjoy even during bad weather. The outdoor areas could have trees, grass, benches and cafe tables sprinkled around, with espresso bars, ice cream gazebo, pastry shops. Lots of outdoor malls across the country have this approach and it has created alternate town centers where people congregate for all sorts of enjoyment. A big outdoor Christmas tree perhaps? An outdoor stage for weekly events like live music or theatre can make it a cultural center too, and draw more people to the location. An ice skating rink adjacent, perhaps? Check out the success of Caruso's shopping centers ~ he has used this model all over the country to great success.

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Thanks for your thoughts. For this article, I didn't dive into current ownership status of the Muncie Mall, though that would be newsworthy. I know for certain that Woodmont Co. manages the Muncie Mall. According to county officials, there has been no transfer of ownership of Muncie Mall from Washington Prime Group (WPG), which paid the property taxes on Muncie Mall last year, to anyone else. Washington Prime Group appears to continue to also own and manage the Muncie Plaza strip mall, including Kohl's, Old Navy, TJ Maxx, AMC ShowPlace theater, across the street from Muncie Mall. So it doesn't look like the mall and the strip mall are managed by the same entity. WPG's duty to file reports as normal to the SEC was suspended apparently by its bankruptcy filing last year, but previous to that the company said it was ditching its highly leveraged/highly-in-debt Muncie Mall, turning it over to the special servicer. A Ball State prof told me the Muncie Mall is owned by "the lender." Woodmont could be a receiver? WPG emerged from bankruptcy last October but I have been unable to access the federal-court bankruptcy filings in Texas. So there has been a lack of public records available through the SEC and bankruptcy court. WPG ignores my inquiries. In terms of an outdoor stage as a new re-use of the mall site, Muncie devoted time and money to creating an outdoor stage downtown at Canan Commons, and Ball State U is developing a similar outdoor stage in the heart of campus. Muncie also has or had an outdoor skating rink downtown. I'll check out Caruso's. Thanks again for your comments please continue to communicate.

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Hi Seth! Nice to hear from you. I don't think the ice skating rink is still operating; there was one in Southside but it is no longer a rink. Was just thinking about the various different things that popular malls and shopping centers do elsewhere. Ice skating for the months of Dec & Jan, then it goes away. I love the Commons stage in downtown Muncie ~ did you see the show that the Kentucky Headhunters played last summer? It was great fun! IMHO, the management company of any shopping center should be in the same location as the shopping center, and if the center can't afford to pay onsite management, the ownership could hire a Commercial Real Estate Broker to list the vacancies, and get them rented, at least. That would also create JOBS! I bet the Texas property managers have never even seen the Mall ~ well, maybe once, till they lost interest. There is so much one can do with a little imagination, perserverance, and boots on the ground. Not far away in another state! Sheesh! PS. You can look up the ownership of any property in Delaware county on this site: https://beacon.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=213&LayerID=2828&PageTypeID=2&PageID=1566&KeyValue=1115356044000

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Commercial Real Estate Brokers do not charge a fee until the Lease is signed and the Tenant makes the first rent payment. The Broker's commission comes out of that. So it makes no sense that nobody is actively working on leasing those spaces. More rent coming in would also help the owners make changes to update the Mall and do events to draw people in. Someone just needs to do it. A property manager on the ground in Muncie can make these things happen, and the increasing rent could pay their salary.

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I don't understand this idea being put forward by urban planners for "outdoor malls." They are not successful in cold weather locations. Young people may feel this would be great to walk or bike to these places, but try doing that with two toddlers in tow. Those people will just stay home and order off of Amazon.

Then you have older folks who either cannot or will not walk any distance due to risk of falling.

The reason downtown Indy's convention center, hotels, and amenities do so well...is because it is all connected and enclosed.

What the mall needs is activities and events to bring people to it. The eating and the shopping become beneficiaries of those events. It is the perfect "tourism" scenario. Plus...since it is enclosed, those events can go on...year round...when other venues are closed.

Any mall also needs safety...it cannot be a place where unsupervised teenagers run amuck. Security needs to be prevalent and in view.

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