FOREST ACRES, S.C. — The Richland Mall near Forest Acres will be torn down and redeveloped, a plan that city leaders hope will inject new life into a property that had been a central part of the community for over 60 years.
Southeastern Development, which will now own the area, announced their plans Wednesday to buy and demolish the existing property. The move comes after the city and county had given approval to development at the property site.
The overall value of the effort is projected to be $100 million in what the city says will will be the biggest development there in 35 years. The plans call for a mix of businesses and apartments and a park. The idea now is to create a brewery or tap room, a green space to host large events and concerts, and a grocery store. The existing Belk store on the property would still be there but in a slightly different location.
"This is a historic day for Forest Acres and Richland County,” says Forest Acres Mayor Frank Brunson in a statement.
Richland Mall began as an open air shopping center in 1961 and was the first mall in the Columbia area. In the 1980s, it was redeveloped into an indoor mall and anchor stores and a food court were added.
It changed names over the years, becoming Richland Fashion Mall, then Richland Mall, then Midtown at Forest Acres, and finally back to Richland Mall. But over the years tenants began to move out and local leaders say it had fallen into disrepair.
“The County was unanimous in our support,” said Richland County Council Chair Overture Walker. “There are many benefits here, chief among them a property in decline becoming a crown jewel property once again in Richland County. As it brings a financial jolt to our tax base, all of our residents will benefit, with our schools being the biggest winners.”
Forest Acres Project Timeline:
The developers and the City of Forest Acres say after Southeastern closes on the property in the coming weeks, they'll hire an architect to draw up the site plan, a process they say will take about six months.
Then, they plan to refurbish the old Parisian building along Forest Drive that Belk will eventually move into. That will take about 12 to 18 months.
Most of the other existing structures, including the central part of the mall, will be torn down.
“The current structure is an uninviting concrete fortress. The mall was added on to so many times over the years, it does not feel like a modern planned project. Thus, retailers don’t want to lease at the site because it’s not a good shopping experience for their customers,” says Jason Long, the Vice-President of .Southeastern Development. “Our project is an outdoor mixed-use center and will be a completely different model than the mall. It will take us years to demolish and redevelop this property, but that’s what must happen.”
Developers estimate it will be four to five years before the first phase of the project is open for business. That part will be the mixed retail and apartments as well as an unnamed grocery store.
The company says the grocery store and the Belk will serve as the anchor stores.
There will be another 41,000 square feet of mixed retail space throughout the site, including about 7,500 square feet for the brewery overlooking the park on the back of the property.
The second phase is the mixed use retail on the east side of the property that will include a second set of apartments. That will take another four to five years to finish, for a total of about 10 years for the entire property to be developed.
Southeastern released some design sketches but those will likely be a little different from the final project.
Living Space Project:
The city says that will be apartments across two phases, the first of which will build apartments around part of the existing parking deck. The parking deck's first floor will be retail space, while the rest of the decks will be used for apartments.
"Residents of the multi-family units are benefited by living close to services such as grocery, restaurants, and shopping,” Long says of the overall vision. “It’s also just not feasible to have a site of 32 acres to comprise only boutique retail in today’s market. Small shop retail has been transformed by Amazon and online shopping.”