Is Chandler Mall the next Fiesta Mall? (Phoenix, Scottsdale: employment, purchase)

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by belgirl

You know I am really surprised they didn't turn Fiesta Mall into an outlet mall. Get Marshalls, Ross and TJ Maxx/ Home Goods to be the other 3 anchors and then fill the rest up with outlet stores. Heck, a Home Goods alone would make me shop there again..lol..

That might work, but it would depend on location. Contractors would be looking at what an area is currently doing in order to agree to update these older, failing malls.

[ShampooBanana]

Originally Posted by belgirl

You know I am really surprised they didn't turn Fiesta Mall into an outlet mall. Get Marshalls, Ross and TJ Maxx/ Home Goods to be the other 3 anchors and then fill the rest up with outlet stores. Heck, a Home Goods alone would make me shop there again..lol..

Maybe, except that there is an already existing giant outlet mall about 10 minutes down the 60 in Arizona Mills. They may be too close together for that to be successful. And then you have Phoenix Premium outlets another 10 minutes down from that off the 10.

Fact is that Phoenix is just over-retailed and has been for 10 years. All of that vacant retail space is never going to fill up with stores closing, especially the large anchors, so they need to find other uses for that space. I work at the former Bank of America building directly across from Fiesta Mall. I can look out my office window at it right now, and along with the other vacant strip centers across from it I can see at least a million square feet of vacant space down below me. It's an eyesore but it also represents a huge opportunity for redevelopment. It either needs to be of the highest and best use to serve what the market in the area demands, whether that be office/medical/educational/hospitality or other use, OR someone with a vision needs to do something with it that will make it stand apart. Make it a unique destination - something not found elsewhere in the valley. It's got a great location off the 60 and easily accessible from most parts of the Valley so it should work with the right concept.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by Thomasaz

Yes, and that's why I'm somewhat hopeful that the area near the mall won't decline even if the mall itself does. My concern is that even with all the commercial development that might happen on Price Road, certain neighborhoods will continue to decline. There's already so much housing in South Chandler where all this industry is supposedly going to develop, so what will happen with North Chandler?

I see your point about Tempe. However, Tempe has the presence of a university that likely attracts businesses there. There's a reason why a lot of mixed use development is happening in the center near ASU and Mill Avenue. The city is also fairly aggressive when it comes to public transportation and development there that promotes a vision of a true city, while still maintaining a college town and suburban aspect. I don't envision that happening with Chandler. Tempe also benefits from being close to Phoenix and Scottsdale. Last thing, there are definitely areas in Tempe that haven't aged well at all. I'd argue they're worse than Chandler. They happen to be the older housing areas that aren't right next to ASU and Mill.

Final point: back offices are not going to make a place a prominent business city. There are some big offices here which I think are a good sign for the business future of this city, but if we just see back offices of big corporations that still keep their main presence in another state (e.g. California), then that would be of only small help to this city. We're competing with Tempe, Gilbert, and even the newer parts of Mesa for businesses. Mesa has started to promote a tech corridor near the airport. All of these other cities are also trying to do what Chandler is doing.

Keep in mind, a lot of those great jobs in Tempe are not DT Tempe, but along the 101 and Warner and Elliot, literally right across the street from Chandler and 2-3 miles from Chandler Fashion Center. And with the infrastructure Chandler has in place on the Price Corridor, I don't see Mesa being a serious competitor for high tech manufacturing. The Price Corridor is still in it's infancy, with plans for a huge Wells Fargo expansion, Intel is adding jobs and there's still vacant land planned for major development. 20-25 years from now it will still be a very hot area IMO.

[Thomasaz]

Originally Posted by asufan

Keep in mind, a lot of those great jobs in Tempe are not DT Tempe, but along the 101 and Warner and Elliot, literally right across the street from Chandler and 2-3 miles from Chandler Fashion Center. And with the infrastructure Chandler has in place on the Price Corridor, I don't see Mesa being a serious competitor for high tech manufacturing. The Price Corridor is still in it's infancy, with plans for a huge Wells Fargo expansion, Intel is adding jobs and there's still vacant land planned for major development. 20-25 years from now it will still be a very hot area IMO.

I've lived here a long time. I've heard the same things over and over. This big plant is being built here and it's going to keep this area economically viable for years to come. Blah blah blah. I remember when the area near Alma School and Warner was new. The Motorola plant was being constructed. That was supposed to keep the area viable. Now I just see a Frys that went out of business, an empty parking lot where a Target once was, an abandoned Mervyns (something new is showing up here for the first time in countless years), etc. The city and eager consumers said the same about the countless pointless retail strip"malls."

What happened to the plant? It's still there. Motorola has been long gone, but a big semiconductor runs it. It's not that the business left, it's that the people who work there live in better neighborhoods nearby but not next to it.

The business parks you mentioned are in fairly nice areas. The people working there will live in the nice neighborhoods that surround those parks. This new development is not going to reinvigorate the areas that are starting to become old. Frankly, there is enough housing on the Tempe side that I don't see this saving North Chandler.

Most people here have no pride for their neighborhoods. They'll drop everything and move at the first sign that their neighborhood is old. See a possible vagrant near your house? No need to try to fix the problem, it's time to pack your bags and move into that big house in the new master planned community five miles away. Hearing about people complaining like their world is about to end over some electrical wires because their property values will decrease and have the gal to say they'll fight for other neighborhoods makes me realize what kind of community this really is. You're telling me you care about other neighborhoods when you're forcing a city to waste time and resources to underground power lines? When that additional money could be used to actually help other neighborhoods?

I think it's ironic that Chandler is patting itself on the back for poaching Rodgers Corporation from the state of Connecticut. A state that is now facing the problems of massive suburbanization at a period at which companies are relocating back into the cities that they left or to new cheaper suburbs in the South West that are replacing it.

Maybe I'm getting old and cranky. Probably. I just have a lot of hope for this city and state. It has the luxury of being fairly new. I hope it doesn't fall into the same selfish, short sighted tendencies I've observed in countless other places.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by Thomasaz

I've lived here a long time. I've heard the same things over and over. This big plant is being built here and it's going to keep this area economically viable for years to come. Blah blah blah. I remember when the area near Alma School and Warner was new. The Motorola plant was being constructed. That was supposed to keep the area viable. Now I just see a Frys that went out of business, an empty parking lot where a Target once was, an abandoned Mervyns (something new is showing up here for the first time in countless years), etc. The city and eager consumers said the same about the countless pointless retail strip"malls."

What happened to the plant? It's still there. Motorola has been long gone, but a big semiconductor runs it. It's not that the business left, it's that the people who work there live in better neighborhoods nearby but not next to it.

That area of North Chandler is working class, it has smaller homes not necessarily nice family homes in planned communities with HOA's. That area has NEVER had anything the scale of what has already existed in the Price Corridor not to mentioned the things that are planned such as the Park Place development, Wells Fargo expansion and Intel expansion.

Originally Posted by Thomasaz

The business parks you mentioned are in fairly nice areas. The people working there will live in the nice neighborhoods that surround those parks. This new development is not going to reinvigorate the areas that are starting to become old. Frankly, there is enough housing on the Tempe side that I don't see this saving North Chandler.

I mentioned Chandler Fashion Center being a hot spot in 20-25 years, not North Chandler. North Chandler is working class and not desirable to me. There is another thread about North Chandler on the first page, maybe you clicked on the wrong thread. I sort of agree about North Chandler and the city is trying to do things to save it such as making it more artsy. We will see. In any event here's a few images of planned development in the Price Corridor, some of which has already received entitlements:

[ibarrio]

Is the social aspect of the mall dead? In the 80's - 90's the mall was the meeting/hang-out spot for us teens. It seems now they would rather shop at home and snap chat each other. I'm sure some teens still go but overall it has declined.

Personally I hate going to the mall and would rather do the Amazon and online retail thing. About 90% of my brick and mortar shopping is done at Costco/Fry's Grocery. The other 10% is probably split between Walmart/Target/Kohls/Albertsons/Safeway.

[Hschlick84]

I visited the Superstition Springs Mall the first time yesterday in Mesa, it looks like a semi new built in the early 2000s. At least half the stores are empty and not many people walking and shopping. Is this mall starting to die off also? Do you think they will convert it into an outlet, mixed use shopping area in the future?

[john3232]

The wife likes shopping malls. Sometimes I drop her off on a Sunday afternoon and she calls me two or three hours later to pick her up.

Food I buy at Costco and the local Frys but most other shopping for me is done on-line. I never go to a Mall unless it's to see a movie.

Well, I shouldn't say that. Scottsdale Fashion Valley is quite nice and sometimes the wife and I go there for a dinner/drinks.

[Maroon197]

Originally Posted by Hschlick84

I visited the Superstition Springs Mall the first time yesterday in Mesa, it looks like a semi new built in the early 2000s. At least half the stores are empty and not many people walking and shopping. Is this mall starting to die off also? Do you think they will convert it into an outlet, mixed use shopping area in the future?

Superstition has declined rapidly over the past few years. I was shocked to see the state of it during my most recent visit. It definitely has the feeling of a dying mall these days; empty store fronts, junky no-name stores. They've even sold off big swaths of parking lot space to auto dealerships for car storage. It made me depressed to see how far it has fallen in a relatively short time frame.

[Minntoaz]

Chandler mall is a dive too now. I went in there maybe 6 weeks ago and saw the bathrooms and literally almost vomited. They were so terrible I'm sure the state health inspector would of shut them down. Beyond that there are a bunch of teens loitering. I like teens but not just in huge masses all over the mall. I'll never choose to go back again.