Macon Mall (What Happened) (Columbus, Monroe: high school, live, shop)

[jdub5]

Originally Posted by pickleswanson

I think you would have a good showing of support at the Macon Mall for the first couple of years but unless you have enough clout to make some serious changes to an expansive area surrounding its current location; you would find your sales support declining rapidly just before your all important 5 year mark.

The actual location from a convenience stance for travelers on 75 & 475 is excellent at this location; however, after a few brief disturbances from the unwanted and non-purchasing cliental that surround the mall in droves even with a dramatic face lift to the mall, your all important vistors would tire quickly of what the locals already know - the rif raf that they would be forced to put up with and begin to look else where very soon after the "new" wore off.

This location sits in one of Macon's largest, poorest, and most dangerous sectors of town. You would have to give a face lift and make huge improvements in this triangular area from the southern 75 / 475 split all the way up to Vineville Avenue. The city of Macon itself is working hard to improve the area east of 75 but if and only if they can make drastic changes / improvements will you see these improvements spread across the interstate. Even then you are looking at a good 50 years before the general public will say wow look at what they've done.

Then again in 50 years Macon would need to start all over again. (If the improvements continue as the MID-GA cycle of RE generally does, 7-10 years of prosperity with quick down turns, sharp increases then devastating decreases.) It seems MID-GA and much of the south experiences this; forcing the owners of the properties into looking elsewhere for cheaper investments or raw land to explode into a mini-city of convenience.

Money and development is the least of what is needed. You have a much larger task at hand. You have got to change a community mind set.

As much as I would love to tell you otherwise, before yet another person, company, corporation or developer comes into Macon to make so called improvements, they need to know all of what they face. They need to be willing to work from the source of the issues and be perfect at changing these odds they face. They are going to be primarily responsible for gaining tough political correctness and make harsh judgements on people that have no where to go. They are going to be forced to make stringent building and development codes without allowing many things to be grandfathered in. They need to know that while the problems exist at its core, they also have separatist communities surrounding them and will fight the improvements tooth and nail because they can not and will not look beyond the tips of their noses.

There again though you have locals that get a false hope quickly, enjoying the improvments you show them and how good it could be. Then in stark contrast to everything you are trying to help them with, they over inflate their property values blocking further improvements.

Sorry to inform you of this but from one developer to another I give you the inside scoop and why I cut my dreams and asperations for a better Macon short. We left having just over 5300 acres tied together, willing to pay for the new roads, bridges and any neccessary infrastructure, plus some that just plain made good sense, going well above and beyond the call of duty, to deciding that the then heads of the community (primarily at fault) and the community as a whole really wasn't willing to improve itself (primarily becuase they wouldn't get involved).

Planned parks equaling 37% greenspace not including the planned golf courses, 1680 new homes, 38 dedicated highrise sites, 187 dedicated commerical sites, 2 new K-12 school systems, 1 downtown & 1 northside connector, a 3.5 mile tunnel under the river (to minimize disturbance to the then planned river walk), a true sports stadium, a new mall similar to the one you've discribed, studies showing allevation to traffic woes on 4 of the busiest and most congested hwy's, detailed profiles of companies wishing to relocate to a planned community such as this adding over 6000 new jobs and documentation to promise such at certain percentages of completion during construction. Our plan even correlated exceptionally well with GADOT's interstate expansion plans. All this was lost after 16 years of research & constant changes to plans to keep locals & government happy all because no decision to do what was best for the community could be made. After going before a vote the 5th and final time we decided to concede.

Proceed but proceed with caution my friend

Yes I'm afraid to say I still habor a good deal of hatred over the loss of my RE baby. Reluctantly I must say Macon is still an excellent place to make ahhh...whatever your heart desires happen.

Best of wishes to you and may the present climate be much friendlier than that of just 8 short years ago.

Pickle,

Thanks for the thoughts and effort in your response ! At the expense of being blindly optimistic, it seems like a solution is possible, but it needs to be differant from traditional, "same old same"? You cant just paint the building and say its differant I agree, the community tolerance, and experience need to motivate and stimulate people rather than encourage unhealthy loitering. There are no defined lines on what can put on the property, that prevent us from developing the Mall into something that is truly a community value add. the Mall has history in the area, I would encourage everyone to throw all the ideas out there you can come with.

[SharkGirl]

yerocal, stuff started closing up on Eisenhower even before the tornadoes hit. The tornadoes just seemed to have been the last straw.

Then, on top of that, the financial crisis.

I'm surprised Circuit City and the mall didn't try to get the government to bail them out, too. Everyone else is.

Circuit City: But, Congress! America depends on us. We are where Americans get their electronic gadgets from.

Government: They can shop at Wal-mart

Circuit City: But they have cheap foreign labor. We need to be bailed out.

Government: (whispering to members of China) Put us in for 25% shares of Wal-mart.

Government: Sorry, Circuit City, we are not bailing you out. You can get in the unemployment line with General Motors and the Macon Mall.

[yerocal]

Originally Posted by SharkGirl

yerocal, stuff started closing up on Eisenhower even before the tornadoes hit. The tornadoes just seemed to have been the last straw.

Then, on top of that, the financial crisis.

I'm surprised Circuit City and the mall didn't try to get the government to bail them out, too. Everyone else is.

Circuit City: But, Congress! America depends on us. We are where Americans get their electronic gadgets from.

Government: They can shop at Wal-mart

Circuit City: But they have cheap foreign labor. We need to be bailed out.

Government: (whispering to members of China) Put us in for 25% shares of Wal-mart.

Government: Sorry, Circuit City, we are not bailing you out. You can get in the unemployment line with General Motors and the Macon Mall.

Exactly and so should AIG and all of its CEOs................Using money to send their CEOs and Executives on expense leisure trips and then have the nerves to ask for more of the tax payers money.. Bail Hell, get in the unemployment line....Too AIG....

[SharkGirl]

I learned about the executives, too, and boy was I hot! They were pocketing $300 million (one executive!) while begging Congress for a bailout. I learned that one of the buyout firms involved in the bailout is a defendant in my case against Robins Air Force Base. I blogged about that here: http://facingthesharks.com/2008/10/0...webs-we-weave/

Usually, when a corporation makes bad decisions, they shut down. Why the bail out?

[SharkGirl]

I wonder how long the food court will be in the mall. Do they plan on closing that down? That's where church friends get together every week. We might have to find a new place to meet.

[yerocal]

Originally Posted by SharkGirl

I wonder how long the food court will be in the mall. Do they plan on closing that down? That's where church friends get together every week. We might have to find a new place to meet.

As of right now nothing is closing at the mall right but dliiards......Once the Mall is sold i'm sure the buyers will have some type of revised plans to turn the mall around like what they did at the Augusta Mall.... As well as recruiting new stores to fill the open spots. I'm sure once the economy pulls back up a lot of stores will return.....

[MacsMom]

You know, I remember when the Westgate Mall was the place everyone went shopping. Nice fountain in the middle, good bakery, and the best Santa Clause in town during Christmas.

THEN.....the Macon Mall opened. Shiny & new, with bigger and better stores, more parking, more choices, something for everyone. In my teens, my friends and I LIVED at the Mall. There was no better thing to do on Saturdays than go shopping all day, hang out with friends, then go to the movies at the Mall Theater. Afterwards, we'd cruise the parking lots, going between the Mall and Godfather's Pizza on Eisenhower. Good times.........

But that was a different era. Everything has its time in the sun.

Hell, I used to love going to Phipps Plaza in Atlanta to shop. Always seemed to have the best of everything. Went there two Christmases ago and was so disappointed. High class/extreme upscale seems to be very hard to maintain.

[PotterGeek]

Originally Posted by MacsMom

You know, I remember when the Westgate Mall was the place everyone went shopping. Nice fountain in the middle, good bakery, and the best Santa Clause in town during Christmas.

THEN.....the Macon Mall opened. Shiny & new, with bigger and better stores, more parking, more choices, something for everyone. In my teens, my friends and I LIVED at the Mall. There was no better thing to do on Saturdays than go shopping all day, hang out with friends, then go to the movies at the Mall Theater. Afterwards, we'd cruise the parking lots, going between the Mall and Godfather's Pizza on Eisenhower. Good times.........

But that was a different era. Everything has its time in the sun.

Hell, I used to love going to Phipps Plaza in Atlanta to shop. Always seemed to have the best of everything. Went there two Christmases ago and was so disappointed. High class/extreme upscale seems to be very hard to maintain.

OMG, Macsmom, you just brought back my high school years (Godfathers crusing ). I have to ask, where did you graduate hs and what year?

[TheJagMan]

I think I got a quick fix...Build a Dave and Busters type of place in the mall...That's a restaurant that has a very large arcade, ticket/carnival games, pool tables and multiple bars. Generally a place you bring your family to eat and play in the daytime. And bring your friends to grab some drinks by night. There's nothing like that in middle GA. Set it up so there is no customer exterior entrance, force people to walk through the stores in the mall. I am military but do not live on the base. I do know a lot of youngin's who live in the dorms and most of them shop at the centerville mall. Also some people take bi-monthly trips to Altanta and do their shopping at the in-route outlets in locust grove. I think any place with a large arcade and bar would be very profitable anywhere in middle GA...

[yerocal]

Originally Posted by TheJagMan

I think I got a quick fix...Build a Dave and Busters type of place in the mall...That's a restaurant that has a very large arcade, ticket/carnival games, pool tables and multiple bars. Generally a place you bring your family to eat and play in the daytime. And bring your friends to grab some drinks by night. There's nothing like that in middle GA. Set it up so there is no customer exterior entrance, force people to walk through the stores in the mall. I am military but do not live on the base. I do know a lot of youngin's who live in the dorms and most of them shop at the centerville mall. Also some people take bi-monthly trips to Altanta and do their shopping at the in-route outlets in locust grove. I think any place with a large arcade and bar would be very profitable anywhere in middle GA...

I agree.....