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Courtesy of Drew Parham, Green Mountain 3D.
There was a time when America’s malls were the mainstay of suburban life. Ask anyone who grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and they’re sure to agree, malls were the place to go. Shopping malls were where teenagers gathered, where families spent Saturday afternoons, and where communities built their first meaningful sense of shared space outside of school or work.
Today, the convenience of online shopping has shrunk retail footprints, and malls across the country are facing a different future. Instead of attracting crowds for Black Friday deals or movie premieres, many are being reborn as something few expected: new housing.
Across the nation, cities and developers are rethinking centrally located retail properties as a response to one of the country’s most urgent challenges. America faces a severe housing shortage, with demand rising faster than supply in nearly every central region. Malls, with their large footprints and existing infrastructure, have become unlikely answers to that problem.
A Capital One report found that an average of 1,170 shopping malls closed each year between 2017 and 2022. At the same time, CNBC reports, “nearly 34 million square feet of U.S. mall space is vacant and off the market,” highlighting a dramatic shift in the national retail landscape.
Many of these same properties sit on valuable land with zoning that already supports higher density. For local leaders, the question is no longer whether malls can be reused, but how quickly communities can adapt and bring new life to these properties.
Amy Casciani, a longtime real estate developer whose firm has constructed housing across seven states, tells Vox, “As affordable housing needs and costs keep going up and a shortage of available vacant land is growing, why not use what we already have? Why not creatively turn it around from being a blight on the community to an asset?”
Developers, planners, and municipal officials increasingly believe that the best way to revive a mall is to make it livable.
A New Kind of Neighborhood
The shift from retail to residential is happening nationwide, but some regions are moving especially quickly, rethinking the suburban built environment.
Where malls once offered wide corridors and sprawling parking lots, new redevelopment plans focus on walkable blocks, street-level activity, and amenities that feel connected to surrounding neighborhoods. The goal is not to strip malls of their identity, but to reshape them into places where people can live, work, and gather.
In many cities, malls occupy the most connected land in town, sitting near major roads, transit routes, and established neighborhoods. Many properties have been hiding in plain sight. They are the logical place to add new homes without disrupting existing communities.
The next generation of suburban neighborhoods may grow from the footprints of the malls that once anchored them.
Courtesy of Drew Parham, Green Mountain 3D.
Why Malls Make Sense for Housing
Urban planners have long pointed to malls as some of the most strategic real estate in any community. Their central locations and large parcels make them ideal for redevelopment, particularly at a time when cities need new housing options.
Newsweek described malls as “a potential pressure valve for America’s housing crisis,” noting that more than half of U.S. malls have either closed or are close to closing. Their footprints offer opportunities few other sites can match.
Here’s why the model works.
Communities Driving the Reinvention
Several cities are demonstrating what the next era of mall redevelopment can look like.
In Burlington, Vermont, the former Burlington Town Center Mall is being redeveloped into a dense, mixed-use project designed to reconnect the city’s downtown area. The Burlington Square redevelopment project delivers approximately 366 new housing units, including a mix of market-rate, affordable, and student apartments, along with 300 hotel rooms, about 40,000 square feet of street-level retail and restaurant space, and 422 parking spaces.
“Beyond the buildings themselves, the project is designed to restore long-disconnected downtown street connections,” said Patrick O’Brien, vice president of S.D. Ireland Companies. “That improves walkability, circulation, and overall integration with the surrounding downtown area.”
On the West Coast, the former Laguna Hills Mall is being redesigned into the Village at Laguna Hills district — a 10-year plan — expected to include more than 1,200 housing units, new dining options, and community gathering spaces.
“People don’t want to drive 45 minutes to get to their destination,” the project’s developer, Stephen Logan, told Spectrum News 1.“They want to be close to where they work and spend their days,” He added. The Village at Laguna Hills will solve that for residents of Laguna Hills and the surrounding area.
Nearby, the Westminster Mall plan proposes 3,000 housing units and an entirely new walkable layout. Local planners say the goal is to create neighborhoods where people can live, shop, and access parks without having to drive across town.
Other cities are following suit.
On the East Coast, Alexandria, Virginia, is transforming the long-vacant Landmark Mall into a two-billion-dollar mixed-use district anchored by a new hospital campus. The project will include housing, green space, and street-level retail. The redevelopment is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs and bring residents closer to employment centers.
In midwestern Ohio, the former Richmond Town Square Mall near Cleveland is being redeveloped and transformed into the $300 million Belle Oaks, a new community with 800 apartments, restaurants, and parks. These efforts illustrate how malls can serve as catalysts for broader revitalization.
Across these communities, the pattern is similar. Malls that once symbolized peak American retail culture are becoming tools for solving housing shortages and strengthening local economies.
The Realities and Challenges
While interest in mall-to-housing redevelopment continues to grow, developers caution that the financial returns are often long-term.
“In many cases, it does not generate strong short-term financial returns,” O’Brien explained. “Mall-to-housing conversions are long-term investments where the primary benefits are realized by the broader community rather than immediately by the owners.”
Over time, he said, these projects can stabilize neighborhoods, increase housing supply, and support local economic activity, but they require patience and a long-term perspective to be financially sustainable.
O’Brien also points to regulatory flexibility as a major factor regarding whether these projects move forward. “Eliminating the requirement that 20 percent of housing units be designated as affordable would significantly improve project viability,” he said, noting that lower development costs could encourage more projects to advance and ultimately increase overall housing supply.
From an economic standpoint, greater supply helps reduce pressure on demand — one of the most effective long-term tools for stabilizing rental prices.
A Look Toward the Future
If the last decade was defined by retail contraction, the next decade may be represented by mall rebirths. Local governments are becoming more open to creative land-use solutions. Developers are incorporating placemaking strategies that emphasize walkability and neighborhood identity. And residents are showing a stronger interest in living closer to daily needs.
Malls were once built for consumption, and today they may be built around connection. For cities, this is not just about filling empty spaces but instead is about shaping what comes next.
As one Orange County leader shared with NBC4, “We are not losing malls. We are gaining neighborhoods.”
The question is no longer whether malls can become housing. It is how many will make the transition and how quickly communities can embrace the opportunity.
