Friday, December 15, 2006

East Charlotte's new, Belk-free future

I can’t say I was surprised Belk decided to pull the plug on its Eastland mall store. It’s been rumored for years. But what will it mean for east Charlotte and for Eastland mall? I’d love to hear from some Eastland-area neighbors.

Here’s my take. On one hand, the demographic changes in east Charlotte that have affected Eastland mall and its Belk store are another indicator of a national phenomenon of economic problems besetting so-called “first ring” suburbs – neighborhoods built from the 1950s to the 1970s, even 1980s. They lack the redevelopment cachet of uptown or older, streetcar suburbs such as Plaza-Midwood, Dilworth and Wesley Heights, etc., and their housing stock is aging, sometimes not gracefully.

The comparatively less expensive houses and apartments in east Charlotte have attracted a lot of immigrants. The area has also attracted more than its share of “affordable housing” development projects, especially if you consider the almost complete absence of that kind of project in the relatively affluent pie-slice of Charlotte that sits to the south of uptown. As we all know – well, you’d think city leaders would know this but some of them too often act as if they don't – clustering too much starter-level and “affordable” housing in any one chunk of the city drags down property values for everyone there.

On the other hand, no one in city government who’s been paying attention – and yes, they do often pay attention – will be any more surprised than I am. It's been rumored for years that Belk was going to close that store. Here's an Observer article from June about the situation. Harris Teeter closed its Eastland store earlier this year. All over the country, enclosed regional shopping malls are fading. The hot new ticket is the “lifestyle center.” I haven’t researched this, but from chats I’ve had with developers and national planners, I’ve begun to suspect Northlake might be the last enclosed regional mall ever to be built in America. Eastland was probably fated for trouble regardless of the area's demographic shift. And what’s in the cards for Carolina Place? Eastridge in Gastonia? Northlake?

What should happen next? And what can the city do about it? The city has an Eastland area redevelopment plan, which envisions all kinds of wonderful, walkable infill development, but I question how realistic it is. Unless Eastland’s owner finds a deep-pockets buyer willing to do a complete grayfields redevelopment – the kind where investors DON’T get a fast return on investment – I fear the Eastland area won’t have a bright near-term future. There isn't a whole heckuva lot the city can do about it. One thing it CAN do, though is to adopt a more sensible affordable housing policy – like, require a small percentage in ALL developments? Hello? Another thing is to come up with more creative policies to increase the kinds of housing that the non-rich can afford, such as allowing granny flats, or garage apartments, carriage houses and small dwellings at a single-family-home lot. And finally, it can change the design rules on the ancient B-1 zoning throughout that area, so anything new that gets built will be built to more walkable, attractive standards. Eventually the area could attract the kind of funky shops that you call walk to, like what you see in Plaza-Central, but only if the area moves away from its auto-worshipping design.

Long term, who knows? The Plaza-Midwood phenomenon is moving slowly out Central Avenue. In-town neighborhoods with affordable middle-income housing are likely to become attractive again, once their faded ’60s-’70s look comes to be seen as charming, not stale – the way some ’50s ranch houses are now prized for retro funkiness.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I think it's kind of sad and interesting that places like Belk and HT are giving up at the very time when young couples are starting to "discover" this area as a hip and convenient place to live.

New houses that start at about $200,000 are going up about a
mile-and-a-half from Eastland ... and some are selling in the $400,000 range. The older houses in the area around Evergreen Nature Preserve are getting snapped
up before the signs even go in the yard, and I hear that many of the
buyers are investors who believe the area is going to appreciate soon. (I know this because a friend has been trying to buy one and has found you have to get the inside scoop on something BEFORE it goes on the market.) I do know prices in neighborhoods between Morningside and Sharon Amity
have risen in the last year.

I'm hearing a number of the young downtown creative types (including some I have talked to) are discovering they love the character of the older houses with yards AND being close to downtown amenities, plus international restaurants and stores. Evergreen Nature Preserve is turning out to be a big draw too.

So... I suppose the "nice" stores will pull out, and then when the
potential market for them gets back up to a level where they think they can be profitable, they will be back in bigger, spiffier stores. In the meanwhile, many middle class people in this area discovered some time ago that the HT and Belk at Eastland had given up on us. They stopped stocking the name brands we want, so we have to go out of the neighborhood
to Southpark, Northlake, Concord Mills, etc to do serious shopping. It's kind of a chicken-and-egg situation at this point.... Did they drive us
away? Or did they stop stocking the "nice stuff" because there weren't enough of us buying it?

Interestingly, although some people believe the immigrants don't have money for more expensive merchandise, I've come to think a number do -- if
they are given an opportunity to live in a nice place with good shopping. I have talked to a number of young middle class immigrants in the area who
consider this area a "first stop" in an apartment until they make a
downpayment on house in an upwardly mobile neighborhood.

Personally, I am hoping we can find ways to make them look at this area as more than a startup rental place. We have the makings for an ethnically diverse and
really interesting place to live --you know... like a REAL city!

In the meanwhile, a number of us have decided we're just going to stick around until others "discover" a place with some lovely neighborhoods and well-built houses less than 15-20 minutes from all the downtown hoopla. I try to shop nearby (including Eastland) whenever I can, but if I have to go out of the neighborhood to shop occasionally, the benefits of staying here are worth it to me.

Anonymous said...

If you have lived in Charlotte for any number of years the closing of Belks at Eastland is not a shock.
What is a shock is for the Charlotte Observer and it's reporters to continue to blame the closing on money and not the browning of the neighborhood!
I just wonder how many of the buyers at Belks understood the dynamics of this changing neighborhood?
Let me answer that for you none!

Anonymous said...

I worked at Eastland Mall in for several years in the late 90's and early 00's.

It was struggling then and with one store our shrink was 30% until they installed tagging which really with the small amount of sales the store had did not help the profit of the store. The store finally closed when they opened several other stores in the area.

Belk from what I was told only kept the store open to keep the people who shopped there from going to Southpark or Carolina Place and causing an increase in that stores shrink.

The mall is listed on the Deadmalls.com website and it doesn't look good.

All places can come to an end and I think its Eastland time. The area would probably be better served by tearing it down and building an office part or some other high density project that could help the area out.

With the extention of Independence the area will soon be totally cut off from the south side of indepenence so they will need to start thinking on their own or refocusing on further out say WT Harris or 485.

I remember the long communtes from Univeristy area when there was nothing there to East or N Tryon to shop at the mall or go to Target.

What we should be worried about the the empty hole that Wal-Mart will cause when they move to Independence from Eastway Drive.

I don't think Mary you can compare or expect the Eastland Mall area to become like Plaza-Midwood.

Eastland mall area was designed as neighborhood communities that relied on cars unlike Plaza-Midwood so people will always need their cars to get to those places they need to go.

But I doubt the mall will close completely because Sears has nowhere to go and I doubt they would leave the charlotte market with just 1 store.

Anonymous said...

I live in the Eastway Sheffield neighborhood and can attest that the Eastside residential is coming back. Like another blogger said, it's ironic that major name stores are closing while at the same time young buyers are discovering the convenience and charm of our neighborhood. The real problem is the concentration of low income housing in the area. Fred Kelly did an excellent article that pointed this out. Southpark has thrived while Eastland has plunged - is it a coincidence that there's basically no low income housing in the Southpark area while the East has been inundated with Section 8? Regardless, the diversity, charm, and convenience of the Eastside neighborhoods are catching on.

www.geocities.com/eastwaysheffield

Anonymous said...

Once again, One-Note-Newsom plays the same tired song - what can GOVERNMENT do to SAVE us? The answer, honee, is NOTHING. This is America - if you want communism, and its Savior/Prophet/Imam/Allah GOVERNMENT, then MOVE.

Anonymous said...

The skating rink is still wonderful. It's a great thing to be able to shop while your kids skate, as we did 10 years ago. I feel totally safe at Eastland, it's clean and well-run. However most of the stores that I would
shop in do not exist there, so I do not go to Eastland any more. Of course, I hardly shop at all, so........ Instead, I go to Cotswold.

Anonymous said...

This is part of the boom and bust cycle. What area of town is next? The proliferation of retail square footage in this town remains out of control, spreading seeds of future disinvestment. Within 2 miles of my suburban home are about 7 grocery stores with one more on the way. There are lessons in the Belk/Eastland experience that are falling on deaf ears or blind eyes.

Perhaps we need to start looking at designing for disassembly. That is, erecting structures that are NOT permanent and can be modified (added to or removed) as market conditions change. We also need demolition bonds for all new strip commercial/retail centers.

Even though the QWERTY keyboard is insanely inefficient, we're stuck with it. I'm afraid conventional planning is the same way.

Anonymous said...

Eastland has been done for years. I have been in Charlotte for less than 10 years and I will never forget going into the mall and seeing shopping carts in the JCPenny. What a disaster. I used to play games when I went there to see if I could count the number of "doo-rags" I saw. Any mall that has that many "urban" clothing stores and sells gold "fronts" and "crunk cups" is doomed. Eastland mall is somewhat safe. Depends on when you go. All I can say is watchout NorthLake, you can close the mall in the ghetto but you cant take avoid the ghetto finding another mall. You've been warned, start beefing up all LP departments now!

Anonymous said...

Eastland should dry up and blow away. It's a joke. Go there and get shot or stabbed. Good neighborhoods around there will benefit from Eastland closing down. It will take the ghetto and du rag culture somewhere else. Eastland is a cesspool of crime - fights, thefts, and car jackings are the norm. Go there on a weekend and see the booming ghetto cruisers. No one in there right mind will go there to shop unless it is for gold teeth and chains. I am surprised Belk stayed that long. Best thing would be to plow the entire mall. Can't believe our city wasted taxes building a bus hub there. What a joke. Thugs have ruined it. And thugs came there because of the surrounding apt complexes where drugs are dealt and prostitution and crime are the norm. Northlake is next. I went there last week and almost got in a fight while looking at shoes. Some guy in baggy pants thought I looked at him wrong and he tried to assault me. Northlake will be the next hot spot for thungs to hang. Just being honest.

Anonymous said...

All of the the posts this afternoon has confirmed what i have known for years,the humble,christ like town of Charlotte,is nothing but a hotbed for undercover racist!

Anonymous said...

I can see why you choose to be anonymous. However being anonymous does not hide your racism. The facts remain that there are fewer car break-ins, car jackings and assaults at Eastland than Northlake, Carolna Place and Concord Mills. Perception is not always reality. Brown skin a du rag, sweats and sagging pants don't neccesarily make a thug. What would you call the many young white guy dreesed that way -- a skateboarder instead of a thug.

Anonymous said...

If it's racist to want to avoid bullets and gang activity, which is prevalent both inside Eastland Mall and in its parking lot, then I guess we are racist.

Anonymous said...

,One thing it CAN do, though is to adopt a more sensible affordable housing policy – like, require a small percentage in ALL developments? Hello?

Mary, in a free market society there is not always going to be affordable housing everywhere. There are high priced developments that are designed for luxury and the wealthy. If you are going to place an "affordable housing" requirement on those developers, be prepared to offer them tax beaks to make it happen. You are killing their profits.

Tht is exactly what we are observing on South Blvd with light rail. The city is requiring a certain number of affordable housing units. But the developers cannot make the profit numbers work. So they demand tax breaks to meet the requirements of the city. And the city is giving away the tax base to meet the developer demands.

If this is expanded everywhere, where does that leave us? In a bankrupt city.

You need to think to the logical end of your casual comments. Requiring affordable housing in ALL developments would be a disaster. You are basically giving away the ENTIRE tax base.

Anonymous said...

What I liked about Charlotte when I first moved here from Memphis in 89 was that Upper Income and Lower Income Neighborhoods Checkerboarded each other. In the last 10 years or so that is no longer the case. Charlotte is following the Richard Florida model of a Mostly White Upper class inner core surrounded by a lower class minority loop surrounded by a Middle class loop outside the county.

This does notr bode well for our future as a united Community.

Anonymous said...

I have so many memories shopping at this mall. I hate that it's changed so much, but we can't dwell on that, we have to find a solution.

In my opinion, this is developers fault. Concord Mills should NEVER have been built, nor should Carolina Place have. Retail should have stayed in 4 distinct core regions of the city , SouthPark, Eastland, uptown and Northlake areas. If we wanted an outlet mall, Eastland should have been converted into that format so it could stay highly popular, just like CMills is. SouthPark would have probably progeressed into its upscale image, but it should have reatined stores like Sears (hey, upscale malls do have Sears... Crabtree, Southpoint, etc). Northlake should have been built and just been the regional mid-market mall, and retail should have remained in UPTOWN CHARLOTTE - that is the key. With that balance, we'd revitalize (or not see these areas die off) and then everything would be in *BALANCE*

Anonymous said...

Belks closed their store downtown years ago, as did Iveys. Downtown did not fail although it has changed dramatically. Then the center of town for everything, it is now focused on business, childfree residential, restaurants, bars and government sponsored entertainment. As a previous writer said, things come and go. There is an ebb and flow to everything. Mary's advocacy of government is typical of those who seek to do good for some by using the force of government. She is not wrong in her wish to do good, the problem is the effects of this and that policy are usually unknown except for short term specific results, usually for the developer who directly benefits.

The post writing about having to travel to Southpark to shop is actually writing about a government policy set in place years ago concerning zoning. Certain type businesses couldn't be here, residential couldn't be there. Cars were required to survive because it was too far to walk. Now cars are 'wrong' and government interference is advocated by those who believe so.

Change zoning, or eliminate it entirely and many of the problems referred to here will slowly dissappear. Don't and every time government tinkers with an answer to a perceived problem it will create a new one.

Finally, the core of the problem is the NIMBY attitude of people. In seeking relief from others or enhancement of their own position they cry out "oh government oh government - please save us". Avoiding responsibility for themselves they become weak, spineless and finally completely dependent.

Maintain a good police force, eliminate zoning, supply a good bus system, then Eastland Mall will become irrelevant.

Unknown said...

I'm not despairing over the fact that Belk is leaving Eastland. I don't believe that Eastland Mall will fall apart without Belk. Other stores at Eastland seem to be doing well. The demographics have changed and the stores are changing at Eastland to meet the current situation. As Icb points out there are many positives for communties in the East Side and I agree with Mary that there will be a demand for the retro neighborhoods with the wide streets and trees.

I believe government can and should help the area by investing in facilities such as museums, strengthening the Greenway System and bicylce lanes, and improving the parks. Balance is needed with city council decisions so that not all investments go downtown.

I'm sorry Lewis, eliminating zoning is not the answer. Zoning needs to be enforced so that our neighborhoods stay strong. There are too many fools out there with no common sense not to have zoning. The East needs help to stop several families from living in one house, stop taxi cab companies from locating in our neighborhoods, forbidding commercial vehicles from parking in our neighborhoods, reducing rental properties that deteriorate due to inattendant land lords, etc. Yes we need government help and policing and we need a city council who looks beyond the downtown to keep our city strong.

Anonymous said...

Our Charlotte City Planners and Zoning have intentionally placed the largest number of high-density multi-family rental housing and low income/subsidized housing in East Charlotte. The result is the easily foreseeable decline of this community as our city government pretends surprise.

Anonymous said...

To the people that are screaming "racism" - NO ONE mentioned ANYTHING about skin color when discussing the thug like behavior that goes on at Eastland. YOU are the racist by assuming we are. Thugs come in all colors. Anyone can wear a du-rag. Black, white, or any other color. Does not matter the color of skin - the bahavior is what we are talking about. Car jackings, muggings, stabbings, fights, etc.

Anonymous said...

Is the Eastland area and its surrounding community on the upswing and are opportunities for low to mid-range stores improving?

Belk knows retail better than anyone in the southeast, and they've known the Charlotte market for more than 100 years. After failing to break even, even after changing the product mix in the store to match the area it serves, they are closing the store.

Figure it out.

Anonymous said...

Frank,

I could agree with you about zoning except there are the results. Further, zoning doesn't exist except in part for developers. The zoning board meets regularly to change zoning for applicants, purchasers.

The zoning we have is what requires cars and concentrates businesses in one area etc.

A corner bar, shops you can walk to are precluded by zoning.

Certainly there are problems by allowing the market to work, but zoning as we have it has given us what?

Uncle Dennis said...

What is happening is an economic change. The goods offered by Belk were not a priority of the shoppers at Eastland, has nothing to do with race, but economics. Any large reseller must operate on the assumption that their goods will be offered at all stores in order to maintain their cost advantage and buying power.

Being a Uptown resident, my hope is that Belk will also look at the growing number of rooftops in or near Uptown that might now support a store in the Uptown market. Uptown is closer to Myers Park, Dilworth, Plaza Midwood than South Park.

Following the same economic principles that led to the closing of Eastland Mall Belk might be the sign of a new Uptown store.

For the residents of the Eastland area, I would agree that smaller stores that can cater to the needs of the market are better choices for the mall.

Change (especially from a vending machine) is a normal part of any lifecycle.

The change of putting a transit center at Eastland is the first step of a long term change, one that I believe will help move the mall into a new direction. Mass transit will be an essential part of the future, and that hub will prove critical.

The change of the retail mix may be sad for some, but in reality it is healthy for the area.

Anonymous said...

So Eastland is failing because of the decline in the 'enclosed' malls versus 'live-work' walkable malls like Birkdale?

I can tell Mary Newsom has never been outside of the South. The only reason those outdoor malls have a chance is because it is warm here 9 months out of the year.

'Live-work' walkable malls are non-existent up north where it actually gets cold.

The decline of eastland is just he natural hollowing out of the city.

It is because of crime and all the middle class white people heading for the exits (better known as Union County and Ballentyne).

Stay tuned, Mary. Center City is next.

The dirty little secret is teh crime in Dilworth, Uptown, and Meyers Park has become quite bad and is getting worse.

You will never get the details in the Observer. They have too many uptown builders buying full page ads.

Anonymous said...

"Our Charlotte City Planners and Zoning have intentionally placed the largest number of high-density multi-family rental housing and low income/subsidized housing in East Charlotte."

Anonymous, if you have proof of this, you've got yourself one hell of a lawsuit. I find the debate on the pros and cons of zoning quite interesting. In my opinion, both arguments are true. We need zoning to protect communities from incompatable uses. Yet, zoning produces the crap that we find on any Harris Blvd. style road. AND, everytime planners deviate from the plan, via rezonings, the overall vision is compromised. The key, I think, is to boil down zoning to a few pages that dicate building design standards. If it was easy, I'd be consulting right now rather than blogging...

Anonymous said...

"Our Charlotte City Planners and Zoning have intentionally placed the largest number of high-density multi-family rental housing and low income/subsidized housing in East Charlotte."


>>>

Our seriously doubt our local government is capable of 'intentionally' being successful at doing anything.

Most of what happens is by accident.

If they all just went away, the city would be a far better place.

Just like Pam Syfert's 'retirement'.

That's what we nice folks in Charlotte referred to as 'being fired for total incompetence', just like former school board a$$ clown james pughesley.

He 'retired' also, yet in this mornings news he spouted off about doing consulting work and being employed by the U of VA or something.

Why don't we have the guts to fire failed gubment employees?

Maybe that is the after effect of having a powerless, do-nothing part time mayor.

Mayor Daley in Chicago would have no problem cleaning house.

Uncle Dennis said...

After reading the editorial in the December 19th Observer on "Good news, Bad news" I couldn't help but think that the basic economic laws of supply and demand, while sometimes seemingly cruel, are effective at changing value.

The problem we have is when these laws are artificially manipulated to try to correct one flaw, many other flaws are created.

UD

Anonymous said...

Eastland Mall without Belk's will be like Charlotte football without the Carolinas Shriner's game.

Ah, the days gone by--visits to a nice cafeteria or restaurant at Eastland with family and friends and then maybe a chance to stroll through Belk's to see the latest offerings. Oh, and maybe we will get that new sports jacket today...

For those of us who grew up in "the Northside side" of town, Eastland Mall made what we once viewed as "way out there" on Central Avenue a friendly, inviting commercial neighborhood for all Charlotteans and their neighbors to enjoy.

Why, just this week in Raleigh, which is showing signs of willingness to enhance downtown development while preserving distinctive older buildings, we had a "Belk's moment" in our musical community when it was discovered that someone who had ordered a good number of CDs received some music by one of the bands other than the wanted she had originally preferred. The solution: just keep those CDs from the other group and here are an equal number of the CDs that you first intended to hear. Some other time you can come in for "an exchange," but not with Santa nearing the Triangle.

But back in Charlotte, without a Belk's at Eastland, will we "Northsiders" be able to keep our "religion" when it comes to making sure folks are treated fairly in merchandising?

In the 1950s, they said that the new-fangled Independence Boulevard would stand empty because no one would use it to get across town. Now, as we look back on the traditions of great Charlotte department stores such as Belk's and Ivey's, will a new generation of sales and marketing teams keep the doors open and maintain those floors full of no-pressure choice for all?

Subsequent chapters of the Charlotte Story will tell the tale.

Anonymous said...

As long as Dillards doesn't leave I am fine with it. The dillards at Eastland is the Southeast Outlet Center...and we love shopping there.

Things will change, once EastLand and all that stuff is redeveloped, it will just take time.

Anonymous said...

I live in east Charlotte- Eastway Park. My house is nice and my mortgage is small. I don't shop Eastland because it isn't much further to drive to Cotswold for groceries and stores like Marshalls or drive to Midwood for restaurants.

We've lived in the area for 8 years. A lot of decisions have been made that are good and many are bad. The problem is not Eastland Mall- the problem is SECTION 8. Even the police admit that when we are hard at work, our section 8 neighbors are breaking into our homes. The police do a good job of catching them, but they are never prosecuted and get to go back to their section 8 home and rob someone else the next day. I imagine plenty of the people making Eastland unattractive can be traced back to area section 8 homes.....

Anonymous said...

As usual, it's South Carolina's fault.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone else think it is no coincidence that Belk decides to leave as soon as the streetcar to that area gets postponed?

They realize that it will probably never get built now, and that was the last nail in the coffin.

Do the people who live there and supported the train realize they got played by the politicians - again? Belk does, you should too.

It's time to change direction.

StopTheTrain.com