Forest Fair Mall

 

Forest Fair Mall in Cincinnati is probably the second-biggest zombie mall on the planet, behind the South China mall in Dongguan (but that one has increased its occupancy rate).

Forest Fair Mall has over 1.5 million sq ft of leasable space, but it only has about 4 stores open.  What is weird and spooky is that it is still open, as the above video shows, and you can walk through the entire deserted mall.  It is still in good shape, except for the parking garage.

It would be a shame to tear it down, since it cost $250 million to build, and it is still in good shape.  Could they convert it to housing?  Figure out the expected lifespan of the building (maybe 30 or 50 years) and sell long-term leases, and then let people remodel their own "stores" into condos.  Also, let people use it for their own stores if they want.  Maybe the city could create a nonprofit and buy the whole thing for like $5 million, and sell the long-term leases for cheap, just enough to cover the costs.  It could be like an Arcology.

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Here are some more zombie malls: https://moneywise.com/a/americas-saddest-zombie-malls

This includes only malls that are at least partially open or that have closed within the last year and have not yet been demolished. It doesn't include former malls that have been demolished.

1. Horton Plaza, San Diego.

2. St Louis Outlet Mall

3. Hawthorne Plaza, Los Angeles

4. Pittsburgh Mills

5. Fiesta Mall, Mesa, Arizona

6. Greenspoint Mall, Houston (not on the above list).

7. Century 3 Mall, near Pittsburgh. In good condition. Closed June 5, 2019, to be demolished.

8. Northridge Mall, near Milwaukee. Mostly vacant since 2000, currently condemned. This is in horrible condition.

9. McFarland Mall, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

10. Macon Mall, Macon, Georgia. It has a 70% vacancy rate.

11. Charlestowne Mall, St Charles, Illinois (near Chicago).  It still has 3 stores open.

12. Frederick Town Mall, in Frederick, Maryland.  It has 2 anchor stores open.

13. ShoppingTown Mall, in Dewitt, New York (near Syracuse).  It still has 7 stores open.

14. Innsbruck Mall, Asheville, NC. Built in 1966, it was only 200,000 sq. ft. so much smaller than these others. Apparently it still has a DMV open.

15. Eastland Mall, Tulsa, OK. It was remodeled and the name changed to Eastland Metroplex.  It is now about 70% occupied.

16. Richland Mall, Columbia SC.

17. Fort Henry Mall, Kingsport, TN.

18. Westside Pavilion, Los Angeles.  It will be taken over by Google.

19. Hickory Hollow Mall, Antioch, TN. It still has 1 store open.

20. Regency Square Mall, Jacksonville, FL. It has less than 40% vacancy rate.

21. Palatka Mall. Palatka, FL.