DEADMALLS.COM FEATURE:
IRONDEQUOIT MALL / MEDLEY CENTRE: ROCHESTER, NY
Russ Grasso's Commentary:
March 24, 2007 (user submitted)
BonTon stores announced today, March 13, 2007, that it will close its location at the Medley Center (formerly Irondequoit Mall)in Rochester NY. Previously, the JC Penney Store there closed. This now leaves Sears, Macy's, Steve & Barry's, and an out-parcel Target store as the principal anchors.
Phillip Dampier's Commentary:
June 28, 2005 (user submitted)
Irondequoit Mall's original anchor stores were JCPenney, Sears, McCurdy's, and Sibley's. The latter two were Rochester institutions for nearly 100 years but were swallowed up by the mergermania of department stores in the 1990s. McCurdy's was bought out by Kaufmann's from Pittsburgh, PA and Bon-Ton (York, PA) occupied Sibley's locations throughout the area.
Irondequoit Mall's "downfall" has been attributed to:
1) Mall overdevelopment. The enormous relaunched Greece Ridge Mall literally merged two distinct malls (Long Ridge and Greece Towne) into one megamall. Wilmorite, which owned all of these malls, also redeveloped the very aged Eastview Mall, located just over the border in Ontario County to the southeast of the city. When Eastview reopened as the premiere mall in the area, it essentially killed Irondequoit Mall.
2) Rumors of a Webster mall. A growing suburb to the northeast of Rochester, Webster, was purported to be under consideration for a new mall. Although the mall never happened, several big box and strip malls have been built in the town, and this dramatically reduced the patronage of Irondequoit Mall from suburbs to the northeast of the city, which would be vital for this mall's success.
3) Constant (and false) crime rumors. There is nothing more scary for suburbanites to hear Spanish spoken in "their" malls. Irondequoit Mall caters to a vibrant Latino community in the northern parts of the city of Rochester. With the decline of Midtown Plaza, which was the nation's first urban mall, city residents flocked to Irondequoit Mall to the north and Marketplace Mall to the south. A few car break-ins, common to every mall, resulted in rumors that the mall was rife with crime and gangs. Having shopped in this mall for years, I can say this was always ridiculous, but the rumors persisted. When Wilmorite sold off the mall, it was the beginning of the end.
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Published Feb 10, 2005
Developer Wants Irondequoit Mall
by Rocco Vertuccio
Irondequoit Mall is now 80% vacant
It could be The Irondequoit Mall's last hope. After eight years of trying to redevelop the long-struggling mall, town leaders say they have the first real offer on the table to sell the mall.
When it opened in the early 1990's, it was supposed to be a place to shop. Joe Mammano and his buddies now only walk inside Irondequoit Mall for their daily exercise. They walk by empty storefronts. The mall is 80 percent vacant.
"It's a dirty shame. It's a beautiful mall, nice town, " says Mammano. He grew up in Irondequoit.
Adam Bersin says he can turn the mall around. He is offering to buy the property for five million dollars. Bersin worked for Syracuse mall developer Pyramid Companies for ten years. He recently left the company to pursue The Irondequoit Mall.
"I think this location is probably one of the best locations in Rochester for a shopping center. The number of people who live within three or five miles exceed any other location in the market," says Bersin.
Bersin says he has the contacts and the financial backing to make the mall work. He says several national retailers are ready to move into the mall, and several others are interested.
"My vision is to create a shopping center out of the wonderful property that has unique tenants that are different from the other malls," says Bersin.
But Bersin says the deal will only happen if he gets economic incentives. The town and the school district are working on a plan to exempt Bersin from paying property taxes for 20 years. That money would instead go back into improving the property to help attract big box retailers.
"Our feeling is better to take that and invest it, assuring the property is going to be successful in the future because we all benefit from that, rather than sit here and do nothing and let the property meltdown," says Irondequoit Town Supervisor David Schantz.
Supervisor Schantz says this deal has to go through. There are no other prospects. Other ideas to redevelop the mall for multiple purposes have fallen through. If this deal falls through, Schantz says the mall may have to be demolished.
Time on Bersin's deal is running out. He says he needs an answer within a few days, or the deal is off. It's an answer that could finally make The Irondequoit Mall a place to walk and shop.
"Oh yeah, sure would. This is the best place to shop. They got a nice setup here," says Mammano.
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Chris Whittaker's Commentary:
October 18, 2003 (user submitted)
The Irondequoit Mall, located on the the north side of the Rochester NY
Area was opened in 1989. A 2 Story Mall, built to be airy with plenty of
glass and natural light, opened with three anchors, JC Penney, Sears, and
Kauffmanns.
Over the following several years, while I was going to college in the
Rochester area, I spent many after noons in the Mall, and saw it add
a Bon-Ton in the early 90's. At the time, itr was somewhat successful.
However, after Wilmorite's combining of the Long Ridge mall and Greece
Towne Mall into the Mall at Greece Ridge Center in 1994, and more
importantly Wilmorite's expansion of the Eastview Mall in the mid 90's, the
mall went into a quick death spiral.
Seemingly every time I came back into town, more storefronts were empty, and
the last time I was in town the Penneys had closed, about 60 percent of
the storefronts had closed, and the other anchors had to stay, since
they owned the properties that their stores sat on. Much of this death came
rapidly, since store after store still had some indication of what
they used to be, whether it be a poster inside or a facade with the
lettering missing but the shadows still there.
There are some plans to attempt to revitalize this mall, with a
library/community center for the community being considered.
Links:
www.msnbc.com/local/whec/M8914.asp (link to article about the this mall's revitalization)
Another article from local Rochester television station
Photos:
Thanks to Bowlerman99
