Will CBL's Towne Mall become "Middletown Village"?

The Towne Mall in Middletown, Ohio is rumored to be remodeled after the Streets of Westchester, called Middletown Village.

 

 

We invite comments from merchants and shoppers of the mall.

 

Visit our Towne Mall Watch Page

Three New Freestanding Buildings Proposed For Towne Mall

Middletown's Planning Commission is looking at a plan to build three new freestanding buildings on portions of the parking area south of the mall. See Towne Mall Live Snapshots One of the buildings is to be for current mall tenant Rogers Jewelers, projected at 5,105 square feet. A second 10,000 square foot building is being planned for undisclosed tenants who will be leasing the building. The third 6,400 square foot building does not as of yet have a prospective tenant. The new buildings will be the initial phase of the proposed mall redevelopment. original source:Towne Mall

I have spoken to the Towne Mall Marketing Director, Rachel Olszwski regarding future plans for the mall.

Surely the Mall would want to invest in our community. They are just playin' opossum. Give em the abatement's and they will build. Give them nothing and that's what they will do, nothing.

From Bill Murphy, City of Middletown:

I just can't wait to see what they come up with.

I will go out on a limb here and say I don't think the current mall ownership is capable of conceiving a plan that will save this property.

Good point Pacman- Goes back to the idea that retail, in any form, will not locate in this town UNTIL, Mr. Murphy and the crew at city hall start making it a priority to attract higher paying jobs that allow for descretionary spending. It makes sense that you wouldn't want to invest in a business venture that will shortly die on the vine because the residents here can barely afford to pay the bills, much less go out to eat or to buy new clothes, etc. Again,decent paying JOBS must come first as the source of the money flow, to assure new businessess that they will have a customer base to survive. If true, why is city hall trying to get the retail first without the needed income source from the customers?

MIDDLETOWN — As officials in Monroe prepare to break ground today, June 25, on a new 440,000-square-foot, 120-store outlet mall, officials here are still awaiting word on the future of one of this city's primary shopping venues.

It's been more than a month since Middletown officials met with CBL & Associates in Las Vegas to discuss the fate of Towne Mall. At that time, representatives of CBL, which owns the mall, told city leaders they were working on a redevelopment proposal and would contact the city within 30 days for further talks.

As of Monday, the city had not heard from CBL, said Bill Murphy, the city's economic development director. Murphy said he would be getting in touch with the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based company in the next few days.

Towne Mall as in the Towne Mall in its current state?  Hey if he wants to throw his money away send him my way.

HereIam I am all for supporting local retail.  It just is not good business sense at this time to go into the Towne Mall unless they are giving free rent and very short term leases.  I stay out of Walmart and spend as much of my money locally as I can, but it is difficult in Middletown with the lack of even the basic retail establishments.

.308- There's probably an ordinance prohibiting trucks from parking for extended periods of time in places not designated for long term parking activities. The Towne Mall would probably be one of them. If so, cite the truck owner for the violation and/or the mall owners for allowing the infraction. To the point of risking severe criticism here, I'll "take a shot" on the subject. Because vacant business buildings( and residential houses) are at an epidemic proportion, all over town now,and most becoming an eyesore, I would propose that the owners of said buildings either " fill it or fund it". Meaning- If you own a building and you lose your tenant, the building may sit empty for a specified period of time while you work to find a new tenant. After that specified time, you will be required to place a specified amount of money, into a fund to "encourage you" to find a tenant.The sooner you find a tenant, the quicker your "contribution" stops.What about returning the "contributions" to the owners after they have successfully completed the vacancy requirements? Perhaps we could eliminate the situation downtown where we have stores along Central Avenue that have sat empty for decades with no business interests in site and the owners of the properties so apathetic that they will never be filled.Now- that starts the discussion. Business owners, let's hear your ideas on how to fill stores that have sat empty for decades. I tend to oversimplify these things.

Looks like more Lip Service from the Mall developers.  We will get back to you in June with a plan, yeah right.  Might as well pave over the mall it would look better anyways.