<
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/24075581/housing-conversions-stripmalls-affordable-supply>
"Amy Casciani, a longtime real estate developer whose corporation built housing
across seven states, watched her local community struggle for years to add new
homes.
Casciani grew up in upstate New York, in a suburban town outside Rochester. She
eventually started a family and raised her children there, and in the early
1990s, a new mall opened up, bringing over 100 new stores including anchor
retailers like Sibley’s, J.C. Penney, and Sears.
The mall was a proud boon to the town of Irondequoit, and a go-to spot for
teenagers to hang out. “Hands down the most attractive shopping mall in the
area,” an editorial for a newspaper serving Albany declared. “From its blue
Legolike entrances and splashing fountain to its light-trimmed glass roof,
columns and carousel, the mall exudes carnival gaiety.”
But in a few short years, retail patterns across the United States began to
change. Mall foot traffic slowed and online shopping ticked up. Stores in the
Irondequoit Mall began to close, and by 2016, the last major anchor, Sears,
called it quits.
Casciani ached for her town, which not only was dealing with the eyesore of the
abandoned mall but also lacked enough vacant land to develop desperately needed
affordable housing. Her nonprofit development group, PathStone, embarked on a
complex but meaningful project: They retrofitted the Sears department store
into 73 rental apartments and built a new four-story multifamily building with
84 rental units on the adjacent parking lot.
PathStone connected the two buildings by a raised pedestrian walkway, and the
Skyview Park Apartments now serves adults 55 and up who need subsidized
housing. Half of the units are reserved for seniors at risk of homelessness,
who can receive on-site supportive services."
Via
What Could Go Right? One Uninterrupted Decline:
https://theprogressnetwork.org/global-child-mortality-declines/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
