Some macy this as a bad thing…
…but, let us assure you, this is not the end of Highland Mall.
Most people know that this Front Page/Top Story Macy’s hoopla is simply over-hype. And most of those editorial cries of how Highland Mall is no longer the “center of the universe” are just creative writers doing what they do best: Boasting their ego’s so they can be on record of saying “I told you so.” Not a single one of their memories that they care to share of this 40 year old mall involve shopping at an anchor department store. Don’t be fooled by them. Don’t be lead to believe that the mall is doomed. Highland Mall is still open. This fairytale is not over and the ending may not be as bleak as the hype suggests.
Here is what the news stories are not telling you. Macy’s, a national retail giant, makes major restructuring decisions every year. Those decisions involve opening and closing stores around the country. The Highland Mall closing of Macy’s is actually one of three planned for 2011 in the US. There were five Macy’s store closings in 2010 and there are likely to be more in 2012.
Yes, Highland Mall is now down 3 of 4 anchors. But it is still up about 80 stores and restaurants within their comforted climate controlled corridors. And a statement was released by management to address the Macy’s closing. It goes as follows:
We are disappointed to learn that Macy's has chosen to close their Highland Mall location... Jones Lang LaSalle will continue to manage, operate and lease Highland Mall and will be looking for new and unique opportunities to add to the current merchandise mix. The Permanent and Specialty Leasing departments are working diligently to fill previously occupied spaces with national, regional and local retailers. All opportunities are being purused to add new uses and retailers that create a vibrant shopping experience that best serves our customer's needs. We will keep you updated as we have more information to share.
Another thing to keep in mind is that there are many malls across the country in a similar situation as Highland. History has shown that numerous malls in decline have lasted for many years, even after the loss of all their prized anchor stores. Two malls in close proximity to Austin that lasted several years without anchors are Sharpstown Mall and Town & Country Mall, both located in Houston. T&C, opened in 1983, it lasted its final ten years without an anchor store and was finally sold in 2005 and redeveloped in 2010 into “CityCentre”. “Dead mall’s” are surviving all over America. Another local mall, right here in Austin, is Northcross. It began it’s decline over 15 years ago and lasted about 10 years without a credible anchor and Wal-Mart swung right in to save it from total demolition.
So who or what is going to be Highland Mall’s “Wal-Mart” or “CityCentre”? A Considerable Contender has already begun making plans that can help bring Highland back to A+ status. Austin Community College just announced that it has purchased, yet another, anchor building attached to Highland Mall. The Austin Business Journal says, “…Austin Community College appears to be swooping in as the mall’s white knight.” And KUT News has said “…[ACC] would put more potential shoppers into the building and may help suffering business rebuild their clientele.” Austin Community College has made it clear that they could begin development as early as 2012. That means that Highland only needs to survive for 2-3 years, max, without an anchor. In Mall Time, that’s virtually a walk in the park. Of the 60+ stores remaining, several claim to have renew their lease for as long as 18 months to 3 years. There are still many confident businesses inside Highland Mall that attract shoppers and believe that hanging on during this national economic slump will pay off. Anyone with half a brain knows that the food court is going to be a gold mine when ACC opens up. So getting in early would be a smart thing to do while the rent rates are still low.
The next couple of years may seem a bit bumpy and we estimate that the tenant rate could drop to as low as 40-50 stores and restaurants by January 2013. But our predictions are that’s as low as it will ever get.
-Rusty
Ownership of Highland Mall Surrendered to JPMCC
Reporters are claiming that the court document of Highland Mall’s bankruptcy filing last month shows a different owner than GGP and Simon. Apparently this transfer happened several months ago, under the radar. The mall was not sold, but simply turned over to it’s creditor. Sources say that all tenants received an offical letter that they are now to send rent payments to the catchy name ”JPMCC 2002-CIBC4 Highland Retail, LLC.” instead of “Highland Mall Limited Partnership”. GGP will continue to manage the property until June.
JPMCC? Isn’t that an acronym of JPMorgan Chase & Co.?
This transfer was kept incredibly quiet and leaves a vague sense of how Highland Mall will truly be impacted.
From what I have read, things will continue to operate unchanged. We’ll keep our eyes and ears alert for developments on this interesting turn of events.
-Rusty
Austin Community College buys land at Highland Mall
Bryce Bencivengo from Examiner.com Reports –
Austin Community College has purchased a large plot of land from Dillard’s department store for future expansion.
The 18.5-acre plot of land located at the Highland Mall and will be used for faculty offices, classrooms and will bring business and administrative services into one location. Included in the purchase is a large building and the surrounding parking lots that may be developed into more classrooms.
ACC officials have said this is an ideal location for expansion for the college due to its close proximity to a MetroRail station which is just across the street. There is also the hope that this will revitalize the area around the Highland Mall according to an interview done by the Austin American-Statesman with Matt Whelan of RedLeaf Properties LLC, a real estate investment and development company that is helping ACC in acquiring and renovating the location.
The Highland Mall recently filed for bankruptcy and has been operating with less than half of its stores full for a significant period of time.
The college and the City of Austin have also announced they have been looking at expanding by adding campus locations to Bastrop, Buda and Kyle. A Round Rock campus, the largest in the ACC network, is slated to open in the fall to help with the growing demand from North Austin. These expansions are due to the growing enrollment at ACC. According to the Austin American-Statesman the college’s student body has increased just over 12 percent from 2008 to 2009.
The cost of this purchase and possible future expansions is currently unknown. ACC officials have declined to comment citing that it could possibly jeopardize future endeavors.
Texas Relays 2010, Highland Mall Open All Day
CONFIRMED RUMOR
While it was almost a year ago, it doesn’t feel so distant.
When Highland Mall made the announcement that they were closing early (2pm) on the Saturday of the Texas Relays in 2009, the backlash was very eye opening. “Racism”, “Boycott” and “Picket Lines” where some of the terms used in local headlines for over two weeks. Since then, the Austin-NAACP and Highland Mall management have quietly settled the ordeal and are on good terms. (“quietly” meaning no news organization cared to report it).
Early indications are saying that Highland Mall will be open regular hours (10am-9pm) on Saturday April 3rd, 2010. A new feature will include VIP parking for mall employees to help fight the congested traffic in the parking lots.
On March 30 the management office released a memo…
"The Texas Relays, held at the University of Texas, begin Wednesday, March 31. As in previous years, we do anticipate an increase in traffic, with Saturday April 3rd being the busiest day. The mall will be open regular hours from 10am - 9pm." ... "The safety and well-being of our shoppers, retailers and employees are always our top concerns. In case of an emergency, please call 911. For all other mall security concerns, please call 454-3122."
Record Ten Closeurs in January
Highland Mall remains open as ten stores leave in January 2010. Melrose, Forever 21, Kiddie Kandids, Hallmark, Scoops Ice cream, Thirsty’s Smoothies and 4 others are among the stores that vacated Highland Mall two months ago.
February saw some closings, including another food court spot, “Capital City Cafe”. Also gone is EyeMasters.
Rumors say that Visible Changes, Payless Shoe Source and Anchor Blue will be leaving soon.
These closures comes as little surprise since the Holiday shopping season is over and national business chains scramble to keep their profits high in the struggling US economy.
The big shocker in all of this was Kiddie Kandids. They didn’t just close in Highland Mall, they closed all 184 stores across the country, leaving 1400 employees without their final paycheck and estimates of up to ten thousand paid customers without their pictures or reimbursement. You can visit kiddiekandids.com for more details and the “It’s not our fault we were $50 million in debt” excuse.
The oldest vacant food court place is Santiago’s Mexican Restaurant. It closed down shortly after JCPenny left in 2006. Since then, Gaylord’s Hamburger Palace fled to Lakeline Mall under the new name Dave’s Hamburger’s back in September 2009. Cinnabon left in the summer of 2009. The remaining food court tenants are Great American Cookie Co., Ranch 1 (chicken), Potato Club, Villa Pizza, Great Wraps and Cheese steaks, Simon’s Sushi, Young’s Lotus Express (Chinese) and Suki Hana (asian). These places seem to be picking up slack with the loss of the competition, so there is no word of any other restaurants leaving. In fact, it is rumored that a new hamburger place may be opening up soon and the Icecream spot may also re-open under new ownership just in time for summer.
Payless has always had a second location open right across the street from Highland Mall, next to the Shell Gas Station on Airport Blvd for over 10 years.
Are things looking grim? We talked to the manager of the portrait place inside Highland Mall, and he says “No”. While they report that sales are a bit down from last year, there is still no reason for their company to bail out of Highland Mall. “Our lease expires some time in 2011 and our goal is to sign for five more years at that time.”
New stores open for business in the past six months include Jimmy Jazz, On Time (a clock store), Expressive Streetwear, El Palacio de la Quinceañera, Ray’s Watch Repair (replacing “Fast Fix”), Henna Salon, Relax Station and some others. There is a huge coming soon sign on the barricade over New York and Company that reads “Austin Cosmetology Institute”, next to Visible Changes in the Macy’s wing.
Stores come and stores go. And more stores go during a recession. But while the most leaving seem to be nationals and the majority of comers are mom-and-pop… Isn’t this what Austin is proud of? “Keep Austin Weird”! It seems like GGP is getting creative and taking Highland’s situation a lot more seriously than meets the eye.
Dillard’s Signs 5 Year Lease With Highland Mall
UNCONFIRMED RUMOR
Highland Mall and Dillard’s have settled their law suits outside of court. The deal lets Dillard’s have a new lease with Highland Mall that will keep the giant retail facility locked in it’s current space until 2014. This agreement voids the previous lease set to expire in 2017. With this new deal, Dillard’s plans to transform into an Outlet style retail center that will offer super cheap deals exclusive to Highland Mall. There is currently no word that the Barton Creek, Lakeline and The Domain locations will convert to outlet centers and it is not likely that they will. With the lawsuits out of the way, this buys Highland Mall more time to focus, shape-up and fill-up the many lingering vacant spots.
Remember, this is a rumor; but, the sources come from Highland and Lakeline Malls. Many say that if you ask most Dillard’s employees at Highland, they will acknowledge it as true. If it is true, we should get an official announcement soon. Also remember that the talk of the town was “Dillard’s will close in August of 2009″, but they are still open today.
With the Dillard’s anchor closed in that wing this sets up a possibility that can mirror the incredibly vacant JCPenny wing. Fortunately, the main mall entrance opens in the Dillard’s wing, so it is hopeful that it will minimize the domino-effect of store closures that plagued the neighboring wing when JCPenny vacated Highland Mall in October of 2006.
The State of Highland Mall
THE STATE OF HIGHLAND MALL – SEPTEMBER 2009
(First Edition)
The perfect location in the heart of Austin! What more could you ask for? Over thirty-five years ago you didn’t need much else when you were the first of it’s kind. Highland Mall was completed in 1971 and it was the only indoor, air-conditioned shopping center in Austin and unlike anything the capital city had ever seen. Built within a hill, the innovative design of the two-level retail facility featured entrances on the lower and upper levels with room for four anchor stores, an immensely diverse food court and over 160 happy shops. And even JCPenney was there for the grand opening in 1971. Fast Forward to today and Highland Mall is far from extraordinary when you see over 35% of the shops vacant, plus an empty JCPenney Anchor and a possible two more “soon-to-be empty Dillard’s anchors” (pending lawsuits). With three levels and six anchors in the prestigious Barton Creek Square Mall and four anchors plus a nine screen movie theater in the young (and yet, recently renovated) Lake Line Mall, being the oldest kid on the block obviously doesn’t mean being the coolest. But what about that location? Just sixty seconds away from I-35 and 290 and sixty more seconds away from Highway 183, Highland Mall is easily approachable from virtually all points in and around town. Any business expert in Austin will tell you, “Highland Mall has a great location” and they would be right. So why is Austin’s oldest mall with arguably the best spot in the city slowly fading into the likes of a ghost town? Is it the media scrutiny? Is it the rumors of being demolished? How about this recessive economy that the entire US is struggling with? Perhaps the shoppers are just bored with what the retailers have to offer? Whatever the real reason, here are some facts about the current situation of Highland Mall that no one is talking about and should paint a clearer picture of the mall’s fate.
As most business do, usually for the sake of survival, JCPenney decided to change it’s business model and that led to the decision to close it’s Highland Mall location in 2006, while they were planning to open two other (“Non-Mall”) locations within that year, in Austin. JCPenney owned the anchor building that it occupied at Highland Mall, and after closing, it was promptly sold to a buyer unassociated with the Mall. This buyer is not conjoined with any particular retail entity, instead the purchaser’s plan is to lease the building to any potential business(es) that can use all or some of that space. Desperate to have a lease signed to recover revenue from the building purchase, FEMA was an occupant sometime in 2008 for almost a year. Currently the building is vacant again with only a rumor that the City of Austin will place a Calling Center that employs up to 400 Austinites. While a retail store is preferred for that space, Highland Mall nor its tenants have any say as to what goes into that massive dwelling.
Within a two year time span, the loss of JCPenney triggered an instant domino effect of other store closures and relocation’s in that wing that was fueled by one very serious design flaw of the great Highland Mall. This flaw, overlooked in its design 40 years ago, (and still overlooked today) will inevitably lead to the doom of the JCPenney’s wing of the mall (and therefore, possibly the entire mall) because Penny’s left the building vacant with no suitable replacement. Here is the flaw: With about eight current public entrances (including Macy’s and Dillard’s), not a single entrance leads into the JCPenney Wing. So all natural foot traffic in that wing was terminated, literally overnight. Of the sixteen potential shops, eleven are now empty, including nine consecutive vacancies with the anchor building in that wing… and that’s just the upper level. The lower level is thriving by comparison, with only about 2 or 3 vacant shops. The Penny’s building has three separate entrances–one on each side of the building–that were all closed on October 1st, 2006 and are still closed off today. The Penny’s entrances are the closest to the super Cap Metro Bus Stop #1160 at Highland – an unprecedented six different routs make a stop at #1160. Plus, three additional routs make a stop just 20 yards across the street. This convenient location allows bus goers to make up a significant amount of shoppers for the mall and upon arrival, they always entered via JCPenney. They are now diverted to the next closest entrance, too far away from the almost empty wing. Stores on that side of the mall had to rely on loyal customers as new potential customers were infrequently walking by these storefronts.
Also during this time, the mall was finally settling from the merging management teams and policies of Simon to those of GGP. In 2004, two years before JCPenney abandoned the mall, Simon sold half of the mall to GGP and gave GGP the responsibility of managing the mall. The mall manager at that time, originally hired by Simon, had been at Highland for many years, was well respected and had a legendary reputation. Approximately one year after the close of JCP, she found another job admittedly by her choice. So now, at Highland’s greatest time of need, while the damages are fresh and minimal… the captain decides to jump ship and take a lonely life boat to safety.
Combine the above problem with the beginning of a recessive economy, gas prices approaching $4/gallon and you have a recipe for a pandemic. The fever quickly spread throughout the mall, for many tenants scrambled to find a “better” location inside–or outside–the mall. The pandemic is so wild that some have said Banana Republic, and possibly other tenants, turned down free rent to abandon the mall all together.
Highland mall faced harsh media press in April of 2009. Two particular stories kept the giant retail facility in a bad spotlight for two weeks straight. One instance is Dillard’s suing Highland Mall on the basis of it’s current “ghost town” condition and other little knick-knacks. Dillard’s wanting to leave has strengthened the rumors that Highland Mall is closing. These rumors have put a major strain on mall management to fill up the increasing vacant spots. And also a super media bash began shortly before when Highland Mall made an unexpected decision to close early on the Saturday of the “Texas Relays” annual event. That decision was made a month in advance because of a lack of security personnel available for that day. Extensive planning is made for that event and an immense amount of security is out-sourced, just for that weekend. One-sided news stories, especially from KEYE CBS News, cried of racism and for boycotting the mall. Many people today believe that the entire mall has closed permanently since then, due to twisted headlines.
So, as of now, long time tenants are still leaving. But, some say it feels like things are finally starting to turn around. At this point it seems like for every business that leaves, a new one wises up to the opportunity of low rents and turns their dream of owning a business into a reality. As of October 1st, 2009 there are 103 shops open for business inside Highland Mall.
Highland Mall is not closing. Anyone who says it is, doesn’t have proof and won’t be able to provide any. Highland Mall is owned and managed by GGP, also co-owned by Simon, plus three additional entities each own one of the three anchor buildings attached to the mall. All 5 parties would have to agree to sell (to the same person, no less), for a chance to see Highland Mall demolished. That is next to impossible because, believe it or not, there is still money being made at that mall. Highland mall is not in bad shape because it is “Ghetto”. Highland mall is struggling right now because its reputation has been publicly scrutinized by the media and because GGP, Simon and the owner of the JCPenney building continue to neglect the serious dilemma with the JCPenney wing.
History always repeats itself. Recessions always bounce back. It is opportunities like these where anyone with the courage to live out their dream can make a risky investment and potentially gain higher-than-normal profits because of low rent rates. It’s an exciting time when the American Dream is that much more securable. Every single national retail chain, whether mom-and-pop or big box, on-site or on-line, started just like any business you can find right now in Highland Mall. Could Highland Mall close? Could lightning strike you? Anyone who says Highland Mall could close is scared. Anyone who says Highland Mall is closing is an idiot.
-Highland Mall is NOT closing .com
RUMOR ROUNDUP
ru⋅mor /ˈru
mər/ [roo-mer] –noun
| 1. | a story or statement in general circulation without confirmation or certainty as to facts: a rumor of war. |
| 2. | gossip; hearsay: Don’t listen to rumor. |
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What have you heard about Highland Mall? Any new stores coming? What old stores are leaving? Got some news about that JCPenny building? In the comments section tell us the things you have heard and our team may investigate them. When dealing with a rumor it is very important to give as many details as possible. They will help us get right to the bottom of the issue. Here are some important questions to ask when someone spreads a rumor to you.
1.) THE SOURCE: Who said it or where did they hear it from? (Your uncle’s best friend’s taxi driver probably isn’t a credible source.)
2.) THE TIME: When will the supposed rumor happen? (Didn’t they say that Dillard’s was going to close in August of 2009?)
Most gossip is not worth listening to, let alone spreading. But if you come across some information that you feel needs attention or you hear about something that “everyone else” is talking about, then post it here and we’ll dig up as much truth about it as possible.
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