OFFICIAL: The Streets at Metcalf (Metcalf South redevelopment)

[KC0KEK]

I went to Metcalf South this weekend for the first time in a year or so. I used to go more regularly when I worked across the street in the late '90s, so I knew that stores were closing, but on this trip I was amazed both that MS has emptied out even more and by the big name stores that used to be there. (Almost all of the signs are still up, so it's easy to tell if you don't remember them.)

My question is, what went wrong? I assume that retailers still consider that area of Overlan Park to be a prime location, and if that's correct, why did MS slip in the first place, and why can't it rebound? For example, did the mall's owner let the building go to pot? Did other developments (e.g., Oak Park Mall, Town Center) offer sweetheart deals to lure away MS's tenants?

[KCPowercat]

I think that place is a perfect example of what retailers think of shopping malls on the whole.

Plus sprawl putting people further and further out.

[KC0KEK]

I think that place is a perfect example of what retailers think of shopping malls on the whole.

If that's the rule -- and it may well be -- then are Oak Park Mall and Independence Center just exceptions to that rule?

[trailerkid]

The co-owner of Metcalf South (I believe Sears owns the other half) is that OP fossil Sherman Dreiseszun, also the owner of Metro North Mall. I guess his management style is that he hates retail and thinks everything is overbuilt hence his reluctance to bring any new tenants in. He also owns Westminster Mall in Colorado which is many steps up from Metro North or Metcalf South, but still is getting its A@# tapped by Flatiron Crossing in Broomfield.

These quotations are not made up...

"There are too many stores. Period. In Kansas City and across the country," said Sherman Dreiseszun, owner of Metro North Shopping Center and part-owner of Oak Park Mall and Metcalf South Shopping Center.

http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansa ... tory3.html

In another interview with a Colorado paper he says

"Every city in the country is overbuilt. There is too much retail everywhere."
"Any time a developer gets money, they build. That's what they do. It has nothing to do with supply and demand."

http://www.jcgcolorado.com/images/market/ACFAC7.pdf

I truly do not know where to begin with this guy. The Northland was not overbuilt for the 10-15 years Metro North rotted. Instead of Metro North being updated and expanded to meet the needs of the expanding market, it sat like a lump of dryed dog@#%. Now it will be Metcalf South II because any retailer they have will move to Zona, Shoal Creek or any other forward-thinking retail center.

I have little doubt that both Metcalf South and Metro North could be completely full if remodeled and handed over to someone who knew anything about retail. 95th and Metcalf corridor has great interstate access and is packed with TONS of restaurants and nearby hotels. This tightwad needs to sell or turn these properties over to someone who knows what to do with them instead of whining and making excuses about everything being overbuilt.

[trailerkid]

Guys, I realize that malls are not what they used to be and big box has cut into them. But every big city has TONS of indoor malls and they're mostly full. Go to StL, Twin Cities, Denver...even Omaha has 4 big indoor malls that are all over 75% leased and have all anchor stores filled.

[dangerboy]

Metcalf isn't any different than the other inner suburban malls like Antioch, Blue Ridge, Ward Parkway, Bannister, Indian Springs, etc. As new sprawl spreads further out, these older malls are no longer near the new and richer subdivisions. An increasing number of Joco people don't even venture north of I-435 regularly.

Plus, malls in general aren't as popular as they used to be. In the future we will only have 3 truly viable regional malls... Independence Center, Overland Park Mall, and Metro North Mall. Although Metro North is questionable only because of the poor management, not the location. Metcalf South could be viable again by following Ward Parkway's lead and becoming a hybrid strip/enclosed mall.

[KC0KEK]

Mission Center Mall also is looking pretty bleak. I went there the other day, and Mr. Bulky's had closed, and a furniture store (can't remember the name) was wrapping up a going-out-of-business sale. I realize that January is a time when retailers generally close weaker stores, but it's still a bad sign for MCM.

[bahua]

Guys, it's entirely because the sprawl-wake blight is hitting that area, and malls get hit harder than most, because of the cascading effect of their abandonment. In 3 or 4 years, Oak Park Mall will get hit too.

[KCK]

All I can say is

Indian Springs II

[trailerkid]

Blight at 95th and Metcalf? Is there even an empty location to move into?

--New prototype Red Lobster built in old location
--only Whole Foods in the metro built there first
--2 new Wal Mart Neighborhood markets (only in the metro)
--TJX operates Marshall's and T.J. Maxx only a few blocks from each other
-- The most dense stretch of restaurants in Johnson County (Hooters, Macaroni Grill, Jack Stack, Chili's, Krispy Kreme, etc.)

95th and Metcalf has a few years left before you call it blighted.

[KCPowercat]

trailer...I think we EASILY have better retail selection in this city than any of the cities you listed.

Having malls with many 'Gaps' doesn't improve the retail selection to me.

[GuyInLenexa]

It is not so much blight as it is the nature of American retail has changed drastically in the last twenty years.
Metcalf South’s major anchors still seem to draw business. The Sears there is one of the busiest in the region. The smaller shops have suffered. Traditional smaller mall shops have been going through a lot of difficulty with the advent of the “big boxâ€

[Karin]

The owners of Metcalf South should either sell or redevelop the mall. It's in a prime location and could be revitalized under the right ownership and management.

Perhaps the city of Overland Park should intervene and assist the redevelopment process with tax increment financing or tax abatements.

Also, an addition of another department store anchor like Von Maur or a Saks Fifth Avenue division store like Younkers or Herbergers would most likely increase foot traffic at the mall.

[KC0KEK]

Metcalf South reminds me of Biscayne Mall in Columbia: a prime location that sat half-vacant for at least a decade. Biscayne is finally in the midst of redevelopment, so maybe it's just a matter of time for Metcalf South. One difference is that Biscayne wasn't partly redeveloped for office use.

[nomadcowatbk]

a cheap rate? when did it start dying?

[Karin]

The management at Metcalf South stated the Jones Store at the mall has just signed a lease until 2014.

[DanCa]

Seems to me like Metcalf South would have bee the perfect place for a Zona Rosa style development. I think people get bored with the same mall over time. Oak Park doesn't even look like the same mall it started out as.

[nomadcowatbk]

has there ever been any offers for it?

[DanCa]

I say bulldoze it and replace it with a Zona Rosa, new-urbanism-style development with an emphasis on entertainment. Or maybe a park. Or pack it with townnouses. Any other ideas?

[Karin]

I hope they don't bulldoze the mall. I have fond memories shopping there in its heyday and hope Metcalf South can be revitalized as a major retail center again.


Some ideas for the mall---

Add a third major department store anchor that is currently not in the area because the more anchors a mall has, the more likely it will succeed.

Also, renovate the interior and exterior of the building to give it a more updated and modern look.

In addition, assign management to a major mall deveopment company like Simon, General Growth, Macerich
or CBL.