COLUMBIA, S.C. — With Black Friday shoppers descending on some local malls, one South Carolina lawmaker wants to turn forgotten empty malls across the state into an opportunity.
In the Midlands on Friday, some malls were bustling, while others were left empty.
Austin Meyer, on a coffee run Friday afternoon, said online retail has changed his approach to holiday shopping and shopping in general.
“So, all of the shopping that I do at this point is online. I mean unless it's food, I'm getting it online. And, the reason is obvious, right? It's the whole traffic and infinite selection and zero-time commitment scenario. It's a million times easier to have somebody bring you something than have to go chase it down. And, without question, you're not inventory limited at Amazon.com,” Meyer said.
Other shoppers said they preferred online purchases for convenience, easy returns, and limitless options.
But Charleston Democratic state lawmaker Marvin Pendarvis is introducing the ‘South Carolina Malls Revitalization Act’ to try to redevelop the state's empty malls.
“This is just an opportunity for us to really leverage the existing structures and ensure that we can put some incentives in place to make sure that the mall sees their best use and it’s something that can benefit the community as a whole,” Pendarvis said.
The proposal would give income or property tax credits to someone whom rehabs, renovates, or redevelops a mall with at least 50 percent closed businesses or space.
The mall has to have had the closed or nonoperational space for at least a year. There are other stipulations as well, you can read the whole bill here.
The bill, and Pendarvis, emphasize the malls can be redeveloped for things other than retail.
“Well, I'm looking at mixed use opportunities, you know the legislation talks about, it's not just retail. Right? it could be something that could go towards addressing transit in a way, it could go towards ensuring we've got affordable housing,” Pendarvis said, also mentioning public transit opportunities and other housing ideas.
Under the bill, new developers would be able to get a credit for 25 percent of the rehabilitation costs, as long as they follow the processes stepped out in the bill.
Pendarvis said he was inspired by Opportunity Zones.
The bill was pre-filed this month and was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means. Lawmakers return to the State House in January to consider this and hundreds of other bills.