...Eastland area downward spiral...

[Maof]

I grew up in Harper Woods from 1970 until 1993 and mom and dad until 2002. Eastland was a wonderful mall. As a teenager, my friends and I would ride our bikes there and have lunch at Kresge's and take obnoxious photos in the photo booth. As an adult, I was there every other Saturday after payday. Mom and sister both worked at Hudson's.

I also remember seeing Chubby Checker, Danny and the Jr's and a circus type act I believe, in the parking area facing Kelly Rd. When I was there last, probably about 10 years ago, I drove the parking lot until I was able to get a space close enough to the entrance of Hudsons. Got what I needed and decided to take a peek thru the mall. It was awful to say the least. Had a feeling it wasn't going to last much longer.

[EastsideAl]

Even without the 'problems', the declining population density around Eastland was probably going to spell its doom. The geography of that part of the metro area always meant that Eastland drew from a smaller primary area than many of the other malls. With the huge decline in population on the northeast side of Detroit, combined with the aging and shifting population of southern Macomb County and Harper Woods, a place like Eastland was going to become difficult to sustain under any circumstances.

Of course, over the long term future, all malls seem doomed, and increasingly the big boxes are facing some serious demographic challenges. Even the places that are doing well currently are seeing the average age of their shoppers rise, as younger people now do pretty much everything online. The days of hanging around the mall for hours on end, and using the mall to buy almost everything, have certainly faded away.

[Former_Detroiter]

On one of my recent visits to Detroit I was driving down 8 mile and noticed a Family Dollar where I think the Firestone store once stood and a Shopper's World inside the mall. I knew right then Eastland would be the next mall to close.

[313WX]

Even without the 'problems', the declining population density around Eastland was probably going to spell its doom. The geography of that part of the metro area always meant that Eastland drew from a smaller primary area than many of the other malls. With the huge decline in population on the northeast side of Detroit, combined with the aging and shifting population of southern Macomb County and Harper Woods, a place like Eastland was going to become difficult to sustain under any circumstances.

On top of everything you say, with exception to Grosse Pointe, that part of town is mostly blue collar. Blue collar families have been hit the hardest by globalization, automation and the Great Recession and now have far less disposable income to spend on goods / services.

It's not just here in Detroit either. It's happening all across the country in these working class communities.

[EastsideAl]

On top of everything you say, with exception to Grosse Pointe, that part of town is mostly blue collar. Blue collar families have been hit the hardest by globalization, automation and the Great Recession and now have far less disposable income to spend on goods / services.

It's not just here in Detroit either. It's happening all across the country in these working class communities.

Which is what has put so much of the country into the Walmart/Dollar General economy. All of the real growth in retail is the deep discount segment for a reason.

[stasu1213]

This is the reason why companies such as Amazon by passed Michigan. Residents are being forced to drive a distance just to get basic needs such as an Ironing board or towels while the stores that had sold them closed down in the walkable communities. New Jersey still has their communities intact with local stores and other amenities that residents in those communities surrounding these areas of retail could walk to them whether it's a deli, a market, or anyplace that sell housewares. Michigan including Detroit design it's system where residents have to rely on the automobile to get to these places that sell basic needs needed. Some would say that Target, and the malls were doomed to close. That's true but I find in highly coincidental that two of the major malls, Northland and Eastland were owned by the same slumlord who just sat on them while they deteorated. Macomb Mall had made a comeback. Eastland Mall can't? I feel that Eastland Mall is planned and designed to fail just to force residents of the surrounding areas to drive to further locations. The manager at Targets had told me that the management of Eastland wanted Target to close sooner than expected for reasons unknown. Eastside Al was right that the area surrounding Eastland had went down but there were still people from surrounding areas including Grosse Pointe and St Clair Shores that had supported and shopped at Targets and would had supported any stores that would had catered to their needs. I would say which came first the chicken or the egg. Eastland mismanagement came before the deterioration of the surrounding areas. Eastland allowed stores to open inside the mall that catered to a more rowdy seedy clientele. Northland may had been a different story. The mindset has to be changed if there is going to be any hope of a major corporation outside of the local ones eyeing southeast Michigan including Detroit as a possible second home or main home.

[Hypestyles]

convert it into an open air mall with select retail, residential, office space, and community meeting spaces. Conduct focus meetings with local residents on what they'd like to see.

[hybridy]

Amazon distribution will ensure I will eventually get same day delivery on most common items at my home. A ratty big box store experience with apathetic and rude workers isn’t something worth driving to anymore, it’s not worth my time. Fishing through cluttered clearance racks in search of a ‘deal’ is for bored housewives. My wife has a career and she’s not bored. I’d rather spend the little free time I have on an experience which is what malls [[if they don’t close) and downtowns are shifting to. Stop pining for nostalgia...it’s not coming back in any form you’re familiar with.

[kathy2trips]

Harper Woods is in need of some serious soul searching to revitalize the area. It is no longer the draw it was in the 50s and 60s and city leaders need to examine why that is. The only thing that is the same, is that it has housing affordable to the middle and working classes. However, that, too will be trashed unless something is done, and soon.

Eastland just became too unsafe and scary to frequent. Robberies, muggings, shootings.....who needs that? Surveillance cameras would be helpful in determent and prosecutions. However, additional factors come into play:

1) Open enrollment in the high school, in close proximity to Eastland has increased crime in the area. My relatives tell me that beautiful new school is trashed because people don't have a vested interest in the neighborhood and twisted values about personal property.

2) The tax rolls can't be managed simply be homeowners and retailers alone. With the decline of brick-and-mortar stores, something else needs to pump money into the municipal treasury to maintain and hopefully increase crucial city services like police, fire dept., etc. Back when I lived near there, Roseville, St. Clair Shores, Harper Woods, and Eastpointe [[East Detroit back then) had "mutual aid agreements" among police and fire fighters, but I don't think that's still in effect.........is it?

My idea is a radical one, but worth exploring. What do city governments seem to need, but there never seems to be enough of? Where is there a backlog of work that needs to be done, but not enough facilities to do the work?

A municipal computer and forensics laboratory center! They could take in work from other municipalities that would gladly pay to expedite their case load. It would create jobs, the overhead would be such that it would not be difficult to turn a profit. Harper Woods is small enough that they could install surveillance cameras throughout the entire city to deter crime. The little shops along Kelly Road would be a good place to start. Plus, that would be a big draw because NOBODY wants to live where they are not safe. Also, more people working in HW would compel more stores to re-open.

If you've got a better idea for a kick in the pants for Harper Woods, I'd love to hear it. I love that community, as I lived nearby in Detroit for many years. The 1950s vibe is downright charming. However, if Harper Woods doesn't get it's act together soon, I'm afraid it may end up as "Highland Park East" before too long. This can't and shouldn't go on.

[stasu1213]

I had gotten word from someone who work at Eastland mall that the mall was sold or auctioned for 3.4 million dollars

[313WX]

I had gotten word from someone who work at Eastland mall that the mall was sold or auctioned for 3.4 million dollars

I heard about that the other day.

[SyGolden48236]

I had gotten word from someone who work at Eastland mall that the mall was sold or auctioned for 3.4 million dollars

The mall was sold at auction on Thursday. The opening bid was $500,000.00. The final price was $3,125,000.00.

[stasu1213]

Who had purchased it?

[Maof]

https://www.freep.com/story/money/20...ds/1603291002/

[DeLemur]

True. Consolidation of these small cities and townships is necessary to save some operating costs.

What's fascinating to me is so few of these little cities brand themselves or attempt to create a certain identity. Harper Woods being one of them. With the sad death of the middle class and an economy that only works for the top 5% of people in the United States, I guess there is little you can do.

Harper Woods is in need of some serious soul searching to revitalize the area. It is no longer the draw it was in the 50s and 60s and city leaders need to examine why that is. The only thing that is the same, is that it has housing affordable to the middle and working classes. However, that, too will be trashed unless something is done, and soon.

Eastland just became too unsafe and scary to frequent. Robberies, muggings, shootings.....who needs that? Surveillance cameras would be helpful in determent and prosecutions. However, additional factors come into play:

1) Open enrollment in the high school, in close proximity to Eastland has increased crime in the area. My relatives tell me that beautiful new school is trashed because people don't have a vested interest in the neighborhood and twisted values about personal property.

2) The tax rolls can't be managed simply be homeowners and retailers alone. With the decline of brick-and-mortar stores, something else needs to pump money into the municipal treasury to maintain and hopefully increase crucial city services like police, fire dept., etc. Back when I lived near there, Roseville, St. Clair Shores, Harper Woods, and Eastpointe [[East Detroit back then) had "mutual aid agreements" among police and fire fighters, but I don't think that's still in effect.........is it?

My idea is a radical one, but worth exploring. What do city governments seem to need, but there never seems to be enough of? Where is there a backlog of work that needs to be done, but not enough facilities to do the work?

A municipal computer and forensics laboratory center! They could take in work from other municipalities that would gladly pay to expedite their case load. It would create jobs, the overhead would be such that it would not be difficult to turn a profit. Harper Woods is small enough that they could install surveillance cameras throughout the entire city to deter crime. The little shops along Kelly Road would be a good place to start. Plus, that would be a big draw because NOBODY wants to live where they are not safe. Also, more people working in HW would compel more stores to re-open.

If you've got a better idea for a kick in the pants for Harper Woods, I'd love to hear it. I love that community, as I lived nearby in Detroit for many years. The 1950s vibe is downright charming. However, if Harper Woods doesn't get it's act together soon, I'm afraid it may end up as "Highland Park East" before too long. This can't and shouldn't go on.

[stasu1213]

I wonder why the purchaser refuse to be revealed. The last time a purchaser refuses to reveal himself was Greg Jackson who had purchased Lafayette Towers and had promised to do great things to the buildings but didnt

[Danny]

When the hood from Detroit came to Harper Woods, white folks will leave.

Eastland will meet its fate like Northland Mall. Give about up to the year 2025 and the whole mall will close in time.

[stasu1213]

You are right Dan. As the demographics of Harper Woods changed, so did the ownership of Eastland which allowed stores to opened in the mall that had catered to the “hood” interest. The slumlord from New York had purched the mall and allowing it’s further decline.

[hybridy]

No faith or hope in new mall owner. His plan is ‘I got no plan’. Clearly he’s just buying a decayed property to write off- just a money game. No actual intention of improving the place...just like previous owners. He hoping Harper Woods will buy him out.

A new civic center could be good, but you need more bodies to support retail/restaurants aka housing.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/eastlands-new-owner-brings-big-promises-spotty-record-mall-redevelopment

Here’s an interesting take, though this is a class A property with ‘ideal’ demographics.

https://www.axios.com/future-of-mall...bd1dab5ae.html

[313WX]

Below is a directory of Eastland I found from 2000.

The orange boxes are vacancies. The big one in the lower right was JCPenney [[a year after they left) and the other big one on the upper part of the image was Montgomery Ward, which closed 2 years earlier. This was also a year before the Marshall Fields' purchase/rebrand of Hudson's. The notable vacancy to the west of Hudson was Winkleman's.

Arguably, the mall hit its peak around the 1993 - 1995 period, after the round of renovations that produced the Kohl's [[replaced by Target) / Montgomery Ward wings as well as the Food Court on the west wing. But even in the 2000 postcard, the mall was still pretty healthy with a diverse makeup of stores.

https://flic.kr/p/7z4KdK

[stasu1213]

This guy a purchased Eastland from an auction for a very cheap price just to sit in it. I wondered was some strings pulled or some shell game was done through maybe some state senator or someone higher up to clear the way for this outsider to win the bid

[SyGolden48236]

This guy a purchased Eastland from an auction for a very cheap price just to sit in it. I wondered was some strings pulled or some shell game was done through maybe some state senator or someone higher up to clear the way for this outsider to win the bid

Nice conspiracy theory but not reality. The winning bidder won because his bid was higher than the others. Plain and simple.

The fact of the matter is that the Eastland site is not really worth very much. It is an all but dead mall in a horrible area populated with many uneducated, unemployed poor people.

There has been talk of building housing on the site. Who in their right mind would want to live in that area? It would be nearly impossible for a developer to make any kind of significant profit on housing there.

Others on this board have suggested that the site be used for retail. There has been a mall on the site for more than 60 years and it failed. Retail that will be profitable will not work in an area like that unless you're talking about a liquor store or a dollar store, and then you have to worry about shrinkage due to the rampant crime.

[stasu1213]

Nice conspiracy theory but not reality. The winning bidder won because his bid was higher than the others. Plain and simple.

The fact of the matter is that the Eastland site is not really worth very much. It is an all but dead mall in a horrible area populated with many uneducated, unemployed poor people.

There has been talk of building housing on the site. Who in their right mind would want to live in that area? It would be nearly impossible for a developer to make any kind of significant profit on housing there.

Others on this board have suggested that the site be used for retail. There has been a mall on the site for more than 60 years and it failed. Retail that will be profitable will not work in an area like that unless you're talking about a liquor store or a dollar store, and then you have to worry about shrinkage due to the rampant crime.

So what you are saying is that the purchaser of Eastland Mall does not know what he is getting himself into thinking that putting more retail into the mall would bring it back to life? Are you saying that he know the demographics of the surrounding area and that he has no plans of doing anything to Eastland Mall just to sit on it as the previous owner had done for some type of tax purpose? I had heard cases where bidders had been blocked online from bidding on a property while others had bidded on the same property with no problems nor interruptions. The political leaders and planners or Harper Woods sound a little disspointing that the owner want to try to revatalize the mall by inserting more retail, probably the same type of hood urbane retail, into the mall that attract the same crowd that terrorized the mall few years back. What hurt the area especially around Eastland was section 8 and a high volume of renters instead of buyers. I was walking down a friend's street who lived on Fleetwood off Beaconsfield. The block was quiet saving one noisy family who held a hood back yard barbeque having guests spilling out into the front of the house and hanging in front of other neighbor's homes playing their loud music from their cars, hoodrats argueing with their boos or talking loud on their cell phones while in front of neighbors homes in the middle of the night. Get rid of that crowd then Harper Woods could make a comeback