Mall Anchor Sinks

When Sears went dark at Coral Ridge Mall, Coralville, Iowa it left a large vacancy at the front door to the regional shopping center. Brookfield Properties, the mall’s owner, saw this as an opportunity to create a more dynamic retail presence.

Demolition of the 100,000 square feet was unfortunately necessary due to the narrow column spacing, low ceilings, load-bearing precast exterior walls which limit the number of openings for tenants, and only one loading dock for the entire space. National retail trends desire individual exterior entrances to create a livelier, more convenient experience for customers. The demolished Sears building was replaced with a larger, more flexible building to create “junior” anchor stores.

Shive-Hattery worked with Brookfield Properties and the City of Coralville to design an addition that not only satisfied the needs of the mall and create a more dynamic front entrance but also helped create a more sustainable environment.

The new building is more energy efficient and the storm water from the roof and parking lot is designed in a way to help control storm water runoff. With several bioswales and detention areas this new addition and revised parking lot layout greatly reduces the amount of storm water that surges into Coralville’s creeks helping to control overall flooding in the area. The “back-of-house” spaces also became more efficient with additional loading docks for six new tenants.

This visible corner of Coral Ridge Mall now houses Marshalls, Pet Smart, Homegoods, Ulta, and Five Below and is an activated front-door to this regional shopping center. Coral Ridge Mall is set for its next phase of success.

Follow the series:

• Back from the Dead: Breathing Life into Large, Empty Retail Spaces
• Marketplace at Clinton: Hole-y Retail, Big Box!
• Paul’s Discount Store: Raise the (New) Roof
• Mall Anchor Sinks
• 911: Resuscitating a Dead Mall

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