This article was originally published September 22, 2014. The CBJ is revisiting some of the biggest stories from the last 20 years, in celebration of our anniversary.
The first phase of Westdale Mall’s redevelopment will bring seven outparcels along Edgewood Road to life with a new Chick-fil-A restaurant, U.S. Bank location and five other businesses.
Frew Development Group President John Frew talked about the progress of the project during and after a groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 12 in Cedar Rapids. He said progress has been slower than planned, but there’s still time to get on schedule.
“Trains may arrive late, but they leave on time,” Mr. Frew said. “That’s what’s going to happen here.”
Excitement about the redevelopment project arose in January when Frew Development began the demolition of the former Montgomery Ward space, the sole anchor store scheduled to come down. Since then, there hasn’t been a lot to talk about, and city leaders like Justin Shields, whose city council district includes Westdale Mall, have fielded numerous questions from constituents about the lack of visible progress.
Preparatory work for the demolition of the mall’s enclosed, inline store area and construction of a new ring road has continued quietly, however. This included building new exterior walls where the JCPenney, Younkers and former Von Maur anchor stores connected to the inline mall space (which will be removed), and remediation of toxic materials in the roof, which will be demolished.
JCPenney and Younkers have signed leases to remain open during the redevelopment period and beyond. Mr. Frew praised real estate specialist Scott Beyers of Gibbs Lamb Drown for several months of intensive work to reach a deal with JCPenney, joking that they probably spent more time together than with their wives during that period.
The length of the leases with Younkers and JCPenney, longtime tenants of the mall, have not been disclosed.
Mr. Frew said the new road and the pad sites for the first two businesses to build along the road – Chick-fil-A and U.S. Bank – will be turned over at the end of November. Chick-fil-A and U.S. Bank want to be able to frame up their buildings over the winter.
Mr. Frew declined to identify the five other businesses that have committed to buy pad sites along the new ring road, saying they weren’t ready to announce their plans. A total of 18 pad sites are planned to be prepared and sold off around the mall’s perimeter.
The removal of the roof and walls surrounding the inline store portion of Westdale Mall will also be completed this fall, Mr. Frew said, giving the mall a new look. Miron Construction is the lead contractor on the project, D.W. Zinser Excavating has handled the demolition, and a host of other local subcontractors are tackling pieces of the project.
Mr. Frew expects the long-vacant Von Maur space to be divided up, with multiple tenants on the lower floor and likely one tenant on the upper floor.
The entire project is expected to take about two and a half years, Mr. Frew said, with projects like condominiums and a new hotel taking up the latter part of that period.
Retail has taken a higher priority with the current city administration than previous administrations. City Manager Jeff Pomeranz said that’s because the nature of retailing has changed, and it has become more of an economic development asset. Individuals and corporations alike now consider top-quality retail a high priority when deciding where to locate, Mr. Pomeranz said.
Westdale Mall was in decline for over a decade before the city worked with Mr. Frew to get redevelopment underway. Mr. Pomeranz praised Mr. Frew for his “courage, fortitude and determination” in taking on the challenging project.
After the ceremony, Mr. Frew told a reporter that Westdale had been taken off a list of “zombie,” or mostly vacant, malls struggling for survival as mall retailing has contracted.
Lisa Rowe, vice president of retail for Frew Development Group, said a grand opening for the redeveloped mall will probably occur in 2016.
