Crossroads Mall...why it's dying

[Pete]

The other big negative with incorporating a big theater in a mall is parking.


It can be a good idea, but there are definitely downsides as Patrick mentioned.

[vxt]

Crossroad has a great location because of the highways, but the surrounding area is a dump (figatively and literaly speaking). I live south side and if I want to go to the mall but don't want to drive all the way to Penn I just go to sooner fashion mall in norman.

I think that if Crossroad was to improve they should model more after sooner than penn. Penn is the best mall in OKC if not the state and I really don't think crossroad can be transform to be more like penn with the current management and the surrounding area. I would like crossroad to first get new floors their current floor scream cheap and ghetto. There is alot to do to fix crossroad but I think that this should be their number one improvement.

[brianinok]

On a cold blustery day like today, I am glad I do my shopping at Penn Square and not Utica Square.

[jbrown84]

On a cold blustery day like today, I am glad I do my shopping at Penn Square and not Utica Square.

Good point. And Penn Square combined with 50 Penn now has almost everything that Utica has.

[Jay]

I wonder what their next excuse is going to be now that the Pole Road tantrum is over.

__________________________________________________ ________________

Mall happy Pole Road won't close
By Clytie Bunyan
Business Editor

I'd bet Gov. Brad Henry doesn't have a clue just how merry he's making this Christmas for Crossroads Mall owner and merchants, not to mention the folks at the south chamber of commerce.


Actually, their holiday season probably will be more peaceful -- as in peace of mind.

That's because a months-long feud with the state Transportation Department appears to be over.

"We've heard from the governor's office," mall spokeswoman Christi Parks said. "ODOT is doing further traffic studies this holiday season and will put together an alternative design that will keep Pole Road. It will remain open."

And that's a huge relief to the folks that operate stores in the mall. They know what it's like to be traffic-starved because construction blocked a thoroughfare. They endured 13 months of reduced traffic that ended in May last year when the Transportation Department completed work on the bridge at SE 66 and Interstate 35.

Pole Road, just east of the Interstate 35 and 240 junction, is the No. 1 access to Crossroads. Forty percent of mall visitors use the exit. But ODOT had designs on the road -- to close it as part of a plan to reconstruct the I-35 and I-240 interchange.

That would mean most people who go to the mall would have to drive about another half mile -- to Eastern Avenue then turn around and use the frontage road to get to their destination. It's not the most convenient route. Although it's interrupted by a stop sign and traffic lights, Pole Road leads directly into the 91-acre mall's parking lots.

But more than the closing of Pole Road was at stake. ODOT's original plan also put off-mall businesses such as Best Buy, Texas Roadhouse restaurant and nearby hotels at risk for removal to make way for the new interchange.

So mall merchants and their supporters took their fight to the city and the governor's office.

"We really reacted vigorously on this one," Parks said. "Traffic dropped 12 percent during the time the 66 Exit was closed, and that exit doesn't have nearly as much traffic."

Now ODOT's focus will move from the commercial area on the mall side of the interchange to an apartment complex and an adjacent older neighborhood on the northwest side of the junction. That's sure to bring a new fuss from those property owners as ODOT pushes toward beginning work on the interchange in 2007.

But folks, just remember the term "eminent domain." Long before the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling that expanded eminent domain for economic development purposes, governments traditionally used their eminent domain authority to build roads.

Speaking of fuss
Plans are under way for a 2007 bond issue to revitalize SW 44, between I-44 and I-35, and the south chamber is getting people who live and work in the area involved.

"We're trying to figure what the community and businesses want the area to look like," said Elaine Lyons, the chamber's president and chief executive officer.

Those are sure to be ego-filled sessions as everyone is bound to have the best idea. Pity the person or group that makes the final decision. A town center concept already is being considered for the Blackwelder to Walker Avenue stretch of the thoroughfare.

[Patrick]

This won't change anything. Even now with Pole Rd. open they're not doing anything to improve the mall. But, as I've said before, I can see now why they may not be interested in investing money in the mall. Look at who shops there.

[JOHNINSOKC]

If the mall management keeps using the type of people that frequent the mall as an excuse, then there will never be any changes to the mall. If Bricktown can be turned from a dusty, dilapidated warehouse district into the entertainment mecca that is is today, I think things can be turned around in the Crossroads area. If you improve a place substantially enough, it'll drive the rif raf out of the area. I think that the idea of tearing down the mall and rebuilding is the only way to go. It'll draw the more affluent crowd to the mall and will be the crown jewel of south OKC. The mall is so outdated that they really cannot add on to the current design. Why build another mall further south if you can drastically upgrade in the current area. I don't think there is better mall access in the entire metro. If the rebuild does come to fruition, then it should be at least 1.5 million square feet with upscale stores such as Lord & Taylor, Macy's or Nordstrom. I really believe there are more rich people in the south metro than poor ones. Perhaps we should all bypass Christy Parks and Company and go straight to the owners of the mall by emailing them with our concerns and the negative impact and bad image it is causing this part of OKC.

[Prunepicker]

I certainly don't think this is the remedy but it's relevant, some may think remotely. Sometime ago I heard on Paul Harvey that a mall had been overun with undesireable people, i.e. gang types. Management started playing classical music over speaker system. The undesirealbles left.

Prunepicker

[Prunepicker]

I certainly don't think this is the remedy but it's relevant, some may think remotely. Sometime ago I heard on Paul Harvey that a mall had been overrun with undesirable people, i.e. gang types. Management started playing classical music over speaker system. The undesirables left.

Prunepicker

[swake]

How about this for a reason, it's a mall!

Malls are dying everywhere. The internet, The big box, and open air centers killed them.

Why should you even care anymore? Eastland in Tulsa is even worse than Crossroads, no one is lamenting it's demise, just wondering what comes next for that site. Tulsa has three indoor malls, soon to be two. At one time Tulsa had three malls at 41st and Yale, at one intersection! Tulsa had eight indoor malls by my count in the late eighties, very soon that number will be two. The malls that are gone have been converted to office space (2) torn down (1) converted to a mega church (1) and the last one was converted to a big box center.

[jbrown84]

Yeah I remember going to the Galleria mall in Tulsa that had the Sheraton Kensington attached. I remember really liking it, but it was dying even then 12-13 years ago. That's where TVGuide is now, right Swake?

I think Swake is right about focusing more on what can be done with the space once the mall closes, because I think it's inevitable.

[swake]

I worked there for years, at TV Guide. It's a really nice facility. The attached hotel made things interesting, what with the bars and the rooms for "get-aways" in the building. Dish Network bought several divisions of TV Guide and the two split the space now.

Downtown the Forum Mall is now office space for Williams. They also have an attached hotel.

[writerranger]

"I really believe there are more rich people in the south metro than poor ones."

You are kidding, right? South OKC has a wealthy zip code. Emphasis on the "A"...of course, it all depends on your definition of "rich" I suppose.

[JOHNINSOKC]

Try 73170 and portions of 73160 and 73159 for starters.

[Patrick]

Last time I checked, 73159 is the wealthiest zip in the city, if not the state.

[BDP]

Last time I checked, 73159 is the wealthiest zip in the city, if not the state.

Maybe, but this shows at least a few others with higher income levels and property values in the city and Nichols Hills:

http://www.hometownusa.com/ok/Oklahoma_City.html
http://www.hometownusa.com/ok/Nichols_Hills.html

[sweetdaisy]

Last time I checked, 73159 is the wealthiest zip in the city, if not the state.

Are you kidding me? 73159 is no where close to being the wealthiest zip in the state, or CITY for that matter. Where'd you get your info from?

[windowphobe]

City-data.com reports 1999 median household income numbers (first dollar amount); Livingchoices.com gives a later (but undated) MHI.

73151 - $84,232 - $86,730
73131 - $64,159 - $63,020
73170 - $61,194 - $66,297
73162 - $57,181 - $59,983
73173 - $55,714 - $60,881
73150 - $54,792 - $59,894
73179 - $51,375 - $47,765
73165 - $49,572 - $52,499
73116 - $46,478 - $50,954
73169 - $45,950 - $47,365

Mild shifts here and there, nothing too surprising.

All three Edmond ZIPs (two of which include large chunks of OKC) would fit into the middle of this range.

[Patrick]

Are you kidding me? 73159 is no where close to being the wealthiest zip in the state, or CITY for that matter. Where'd you get your info from?

Whoops. Sorry, I meant 73170. I copied the wrong one.

[Nixon7]

if you guys want to be a big time major league city, then you should open one huge mall near bricktown...i.e. the galleria in dallas...that would bring a lot more people...if you guys are serious about becoming a major league city, not only with a pro sports team, then go for it. There is so much potential. OKC GALLERIA!!!!!!!!!!

[rxis]

I think there are plenty of potential "affluent" shoppers who would shop at Crossroads.
I think security is handled well at Crossroads but it won't matter to upper scale shoppers because they won't shop there if they feel uncomfortable. Even if they don't feel threatened they prob wouldn't want to see the undesirables anyway.

There aren't enough stores to shop at. The mall has been becoming a flea market.
The money spending shoppers aren't going to bother shopping at a mall without any quality retail stores.

I think the play center was a pretty good idea.

[The Old Downtown Guy]

Location, location, location. Crossroads was always a marginal location and it hasn't improved. Surrounded my industrial uses with the back sides of added pad site buildings fronting on I-35. The place is butt ugly and not likely to improve. It's doomed. It could become a low end commercial office complex similar to Shepherd Mall over time.

[HOT ROD]

if you guys want to be a big time major league city, then you should open one huge mall near bricktown...i.e. the galleria in dallas...that would bring a lot more people...if you guys are serious about becoming a major league city, not only with a pro sports team, then go for it. There is so much potential. OKC GALLERIA!!!!!!!!!!

Nixon, couldnt agree more!!!

So much POTENTIAL!!! in OKC.