Earlier this year, the owners of Raleigh’s Crabtree Valley Mall said they were beginning to plot a new future for one of the area’s most popular shopping destinations, charting a path that would make it less dependent on retail.
It was a move that nearly every traditional shopping mall in the region was also contemplating, as they started shedding big-box retailers that struggled to compete in a changing shopping landscape.
On June 25, the 47-year-old mall revealed new details of that plan, saying it planned to ask the city to rezone a portion of its land for a 30-story tower to bring office space and a hotel to its property.
That rezoning would be targeted for a portion of the mall that was once home to a Sears, but is now an empty shell.
Sears had owned this 168,000 square-foot (51,206 square-meter) building as well as the 3.3 acres (1.3 hectares) surrounding it — but as the company’s struggles intensified, the mall reclaimed the property for nearly US$20 million in 2018.
Currently, Crabtree could build up to 12 stories on the property, but to go higher, it would need to get a rezoning from the city.
To remain financially viable for the long term, the mall said, it needs denser development, and to create other reasons for people to visit.
Crabtree estimates that 4,500 people work there at any point in the year.
The mall said it estimates the project would cost US$290 million and would create more than 1,300 jobs. If it were completed, the mall also estimates that it would have a US$208 million economic impact on the city and county.
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