Adaptive Reuse of Big Box Stores and Malls

Adaptive Reuse of Big Box Stores and Malls

Author:

Christina Meyer, National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) Fellow, with guidance from LS3P

FOREWORD The National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) collaborated with the AIA Large Firm Roundtable (LFRT) to create the NOMA Foundation Fellowship in 2020. Recent graduates were paired with LFRT firms to conduct virtual eight-week research projects, with the goal of providing meaningful experience for the graduates and valuable research for the profession.

As part of LS3P’s “Ignite” Virtual Innovation Lab, the firm was honored to work with Christina Meyer, a graduate of North Dakota State with a Masters of Architecture, on her research into adaptive reuse of big box stores and malls. Communities across the US are searching for solutions to repurpose outdated, struggling, or abandoned properties to meet current needs, and Christina’s research explored the logistics, pros, and cons of converting these spaces into typologies such as medical malls, educational facilities, and mixed-use residential projects.

To learn more about about the NOMA Foundation Fellowship, please visit their website at www.noma.net/noma-foundationfellowship/

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Adaptive Reuse of Big Box Stores and Malls Author: Christina Meyer, NOMA Fellow INTRODUCTION For decades the mall was a beacon of economic success and a highlight of American ideals. Malls brought about massive job creation, presented a fun and engaging outlet for time and money, and gave generations of Americans a place to experience a slice of luxury as shopping transformed from a chore to a pastime.

Malls and shopping even became to a degree synonymous with American excess consumerism in pop culture and shaped the way that Americans see themselves and are viewed by others.

This was extended further with the emergence of the big box store, a more streamlined shopping experience. As the world has continued to change, so has the perception and usage of malls.

With increasing globalization, the rise of ecommerence, and recent global health considerations, malls have found themselves on the back foot in their attempt to reach consumers. Gone are the days where shoppers could spend an entire day at the mall looking for what they wanted as now all it takes is a few clicks of a mouse to open up an entire world of shopping that is both more vast and more convenient.

As malls have begun to and will likely continue to decline, America is faced with the daunting task of what to do with their corpses. In a normal development cycle buildings can usually be easily repurposed or demolished and rebuilt upon, but with a mall the massive hunk of stone and steel becomes a massive project for anyone but the most skilled and dedicated investors.

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However, some ambitious souls have begun to venture into this territory and have seen the value in the location and pre-built structures that stand vacant. Whether they do so for economic, sustainability, or cultural reasons, the revitalization of these once great bastions of the American ideal is a worthwhile effort to study and learn from so that in the future smart decisions can be made by developers and architects alike.

This paper will explore and examine adaptive reuse possibilities of big box stores and malls in terms of their economic, social, architectural, and environmental impact and feasibility.

History of Malls and Big Box Retail Stores and their Impact on our Communities At the turn of the twentieth century, the industrialization of America was in full swing, which brought about access to low cost goods and a demand for workers to make them. People flocked to cities in the pursuit of jobs and found livelihoods contributing to the mass production of everyday items [7]. The combination of attainable cheaper goods and access to multiple sources of income saw Americans with an excess amount of money that needed to be spent. Enter the department store.

Department stores gave people the ability to see, purchase, and take home a variety of goods, all in the same day. This was a

notable improvement, as previously people would have to go to the local town store and hope an item was in stock from a limited selection or they would have to order a particular item from a catalog, wait for it to be shipped, and then pick up their item in the store. The implementation of department stores into the city streets attracted competitors who sought to challenge or gain off of the traffic they brought to the areas, which helped redefine the main shopping streets and public places. Window shopping became a common activity and as people took their casual stroll around the local stores, plazas, and parks, shopping for items morphed into a form of leisure for the average person[7]. As more people started spending time in these areas, the shopping districts started to mimic ancient arcades rather than a simple collection of shops.

The end of the second world war brought about an economic boom with implementation of the interstate system, the financial assistance from the GI bill, and the creation of FHA loans, all of which allowed more people to be able to move out of the big cities into their own single family homes [31]. Between 1949 and 1953 the population of the suburbs increased by 43%, with Suburbanites producing higher median incomes and homeownership rates, as well as more children. Large merchandisers took notice of this growth of population and prosperity and aggressively began reaching out to the new consumers [32]. They placed their stores off highways to increase accessibility, increased their store’s inventory scope to cover as many retail sections as possible, and offered their products at a lower price than other competitors in the area. These

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merchandise stores became known as discounted department stores, and their ability to stock any product at low prices affected the smaller businesses and the areas they resided in[15].

Local downtowns soon became vacant and the areas around the discounted department stores became sought after as businesses tried to gain and compete with the traffic and profit surrounding these big box stores.

The discount department stores focused on their revenue more than anything. Companies such as Walmart focused heavily on their stores and branding, investing in information technology, the transformation of supply-chain relationships through the establishment of private-label brands and purchasing more products directly from overseas producers, and its embrace of a low-service “one-stop shopping�. A wide range of products, convenient and accessible locations, low prices, and brands that people trusted all helped to boost customer loyalty for these discount department stores, allowing them to have a powerful upper hand over product specific and mainstream high end department stores [32].

Furthermore, the discount department stores streamlined their construction to create simple and efficient designs that were essentially warehouses. This tactic helped the stores to save money on development and design as each site was a simple and repeatable box that allowed the products and prices to take center stage and speak for themselves.

Expensive architectural features, structures, and interior finishes were all pushed to the wayside to make room for more practical

tactics like wide traversable aisles and open spaces [15]. The simplicity of these stores not only helped build the brand and develop a unique, consistently repeatable style, but allowed the box stores to pour more money into their advertisements and product inventory.

Around the same time, shopping malls started taking a similar approach. Developers wanted to extend the shopping district experience to a wider audience in a safer environment and recapture their lost consumers. The goal of the shopping center was to create a centrally located space that allowed the integration of commercial and community needs. Being located in a central location off a highway allowed the surrounding rural community access to the centers with an abundance of parking [31]. The shopping centers offered a large number of retail spaces that allowed for a variety of businesses to be in the same location.

To entice shoppers, the malls designed their spaces with wider walkways and multiple open spaces to mimic the feeling of downtown cities, for an exciting and familiar shopping experience.

Furthermore, they also often offered community oriented spaces to encourage customer usage outside of the shopping experience, containing meeting rooms and auditoriums that were used to host cultural, political, and educational activities to help shape and inform the rural communities of the rapidly evolving world [31].

As communities grew so too did the malls, developing into larger and more prominent entities that began to have real power to shape the communities in which they lived. Growing towns fed the development of these malls at a steady pace,

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but in the quest for even more profits they began to advertise to surrounding communities to pull in consumers from all over to take part in the exciting shopping experience [31]. In turn, this brought in even greater revenue for the malls and taxes, jobs, and prestige for the community, creating a symbiotic partnership between the two. Over time communities greatly benefited from the dollars these malls were bringing in from outside communities as well as the traffic which fed the growth of other local businesses in the area, but other developers took note and new malls started popping up and competing with one another for their share of the consumers [31].

Malls soon become the place where families would take their weekly outing. There were enough activities there to keep the whole family entertained with shopping, food, exercise, a chance to learn and stay up to date with the latest trends, and access to interact with peers, all in a controlled and safe environment. As time went on, the younger generation wanted more freedom and had more disposable income to achieve it. Developers saw this opportunity and changed their target demographic from families to the young adults, adding more stores, movie theaters, and food options that were trendy and resonated with the younger generation. Malls became the scene for the youth to spend their time hanging out with their friends without their parents being in the background [31].

In the last 30 years there has been a steady decline in physical sales in department and big box stores due to the creation and rise of the internet and the efforts to revitalize local economies.

While physical stores still own 80% of the global retail market,

79% of US consumers shop online, with ecommerce stores such as Amazon accounting for 49% of the ecommerce market in the US. There are many reasons for the rise in online shopping, but the main one is convenience and the ability to compare prices without driving to the store. The way people consume advertisements now also aids in the growth in online shopping.

With more advertisements being put on websites, products are able to reach a wider audience and consumers are linked to products which they are able to immediately buy, a monumental feat of shopper convenience [27].

As working from home becomes more common, people are wanting to invest in the community they reside in. The once struggling and abandoned downtowns are being revitalized by the addition of more community spaces. People are interested in knowing where their money is going and are interested in helping their community as restaurants, local shops, and apartment buildings are now lining the historic downtowns, making the space feel more welcoming and safe. We are seeing a huge generational divide in how people like to spend their extra income, with the older generation siding with chain restaurants and stores and the younger generation siding with locally sourced mom and pop stores [27]. It is because of the trends of reinvestment into local communities and the influence of online shopping that some malls and one stop shops ultimately cannot sustain themselves on the limited traffic they received, forcing them to go vacant. In these instances it laid bare communities’ reliance on them as economic drivers, as they could often be made or broken on their existence. With the increased vacant

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space, we are now faced with the issue of what to do with the abandoned malls and box stores.

The Impact of Vacant Commercial Properties Vacant and declining commercial properties can often have serious negative effects on the communities in which they reside.

First and foremost are the negative economic impacts to the area.

Malls are often large revenue earners for communities and can provide substantial benefits from job creation, taxes generated on sales, property taxes, and bringing in traffic from neighboring communities. In most cases, communities come to rely on these large commercial properties for the stated reasons and the decline or removal of the property can come as a serious financial blow.

Another huge issue with vacant and foreclosed properties is tax delinquency, when an owner of a property does not pay their property tax. The government is required to step in and fine the owner, forcing them to take responsibility for their property, or in some cases the government will seize it. When the government takes ownership, oftentimes they will try to quickly sell it at auction or in bulk with other foreclosed and vacant properties.

This fast turnaround doesn’t necessarily allow for the investors and developers to examine the property, which might result in an ineffective redevelopment for the area [25].

Vacant commercial properties can also carry over their negativity into neighboring areas. Due to the spillover effect , the longer

a property stays vacant and unkept the greater its impact on surrounding property values and the larger the radius of this effect. For a large commercial property this often drives down property values in the immediate vicinity which in turn will drive down prices around them and this perpetuating cycle will leave lasting and large wounds for the area. Seen as a threat to the safety and welfare to the community, the abandoned buildings and affected neighborhoods offer less community monitoring, meaning that the social pressure to keep things orderly and neat decreases when there are not good neighbors to help keep others in check. The lack of self policing allows for more crime and unlawful activity to occur in the area, creating safety concerns and forcing local governments to take more responsibility and action within these communities. This is an expensive cost with the city of Philadelphia, reporting that they spend around $20 Million a year in monitoring and maintaining vacant properties and affected areas, and the increase of law officials in the area leads to conflicts between the residents and law enforcement [24].

The Benefit of Repurposing a Vacant Property Once a vacant property has been acquired the big question is what should be done with it? The two common options are demolishing the existing building and starting new, or repurposing it. Typically with smaller buildings, the developers find it is often better to demolish the existing building so that way they are able to have more flexibility in the design and typology. With big box store buildings and malls however, many teams have chosen to use the building in their design to

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cut down on demolition and construction costs. Repurposing existing buildings of that scale and size can be a daunting task both financially and physically.

Adaptive reuse has always been an attractive option for developers and architects. There are many economic and architectural benefits for these repurposed spaces. They call back to the history of the area and can help improve and preserve the culture within it. They can cut construction costs down and offer greener and more sustainable solutions during construction and for the community over the long term. Importantly, the spaces can also keep the characteristic of an established community while adding a new modern purpose to the building that will help drive community development [18].

Adaptive reuse has a huge impact on the environment and dramatically cuts down on project waste. Acquiring an existing property preserves the site and building, resulting in less physical and energy waste through reuse of discarded material, decreased material transportation cost of material and manpower, and structural building construction [4]. Every project is different and it is ultimately up to the specifics of the project that determines if an adaptive reuse solution is going to be efficient and successful.

While in some instances it may be hard to believe, these abandoned big box stores and malls did have a historic impact on their communities. Many of these buildings represent a time of economic growth and provided for the community with local

Eucational Facilties

taxes, jobs, and opportunities for small business development.

They also became large central hubs where people could come together and they shaped how the community physically developed and grew. Most people could not imagine their communities without the addition and now that the space has become abandoned and vacant, see it as a reminder of better times. The vacant space is a blight on the community both economically and physically and they can see the need to repurpose the space and to reinvest into it once again to help the community grow and strengthen the identity of the area.

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Figure 1: The Break Down of Adaptive Reuse Typologies Information Sourced from: 2020 Case Studies on Repurposing Vacant Retail Mall [28]

Logistics of Repurposing a Mall or Big Box Store For malls and big box stores, the success of the project is ultimately determined by location and the intended typology of the building. With most of these former retail spaces residing in a central location the building’s potential is met with endless possibilities, but their layout and location can often present challenging limitations for certain typologies. So while these locations are something to explore, often luck does play a factor in identifying a property that will work for the intended outcome.

The National Association of Retailers conducted a survey where they surveyed 94 different adaptive reuse shopping centers. From the responses the Association was able to identify 94 instances of repurposed malls consisting of a variety of typologies[28]. Figure 1 is a breakdown of the typologies.

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Regardless of the intended typology, taking on an adaptive reuse project of that scale from a developers perspective brings up economical, environmental, social, legislative, and architectural concerns, such as the following: • Economic » Understanding the target market and predicting if a profit can be made from them » Securing financing for such a large project while trying to mitigate potential risk » Creating/Subsidizing financial incentives to entice investors » Securing and allocating capital for upfront expenses as well as for future capital expenditures and maintenance » Understanding and properly exploiting necessary tax exemptions and tax concessions » Obtaining proper appraisals pre and post construction

• Environmental » Properly zoning and rezoning for intended typology » Mapping the area for the local environmental quality of the surrounding land to ensure no structural hazards exist or have developed over time » Understanding the ways in which the adapted building could contaminate the local area (water, drainage systems, etc.) » Sustainability of the local environment through greenspace and other means » Ensuring sustainable methods are used throughout the project readaption • Social » Ensuring new typology meshes well with local community and social environment and gauging appropriate interest levels » Understanding the benefits and drawbacks of centralized and out of the way locations (road conditions, traffic, amenities, cost of and, etc.) » Making sure a sense of place is maintained so the community appreciates but does not resent the redevelopment of a large icon • Legislative » Accounting for Regional development policies as well as local zoning regulations » Understanding local building codes and how they apply to adaptive use buildings » Adhering with heritage designated buildings and laws if applicable

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» Checking for and utilizing proper development or government incentives • Architectural » Understanding the building systems current value and the necessary work / money required to adapt to new typology » Optimizing layout from current build plan and meeting the needs of the client / typology [19] Adaptive resuse mall and big box store projects tend to be larger than typical adaptive reuse ones which makes many developers wary of them. However, by planning and accounting for the factors listed, developers and architects can better evaluate if a project is worth undertaking and can minimize potential risk, enabling them to focus on creating high quality adaptive reuse buildings.

CASE STUDIES In theory, adaptive reuse is a smart idea with a wide range of economic, social, and environmental impacts and given the right circumstances can result in outcomes that appear almost too good to be true. It is helpful then to examine case studies and learn from those who have succeeded in undertaking massive transformation projects, turning malls into housing, healthcare and education facilities, community spaces, and even usable space from parking lots. The success of various case studies was analyzed but the construction process and economic cost and benefit were not analyzed due to availability of information.

THE ARCADE

Figure 2: The Arcade Providence by 2013 Ben Jacobsen, 2013, http://ncarchitects.com/nca-pinboard/ grow-smart-rhode- island-honors-the-micro-lofts-at-the-arcade-providence/. Copyright by Ben Jacobsen/Northeast Collaborative Architects

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Project at a Glance Location: Providence Rhode Island Architects: NorthEast Collaborative Architects Typology: Mixed Use Residential Area Type: Urban Downtown Date of Completion: 2014 Project Cost: 8 Million USD Originally constructed in 1828, The Arcade, located in Providence RI, is one of the first enclosed shopping malls in America. Known as the Westminster Arcade, it contained three stories of retail space and was one of the reasons why the west side and downtown Providence became the central high end shopping district. Due to its popularity it also became a central space for community events like political rallies and markets. In 1976 it was named a national landmark of Rhode Island and remained a shopping center for the majority of its life until 2008, when it was officially closed [23].

The renovation of the Arcade was part of a plan to save the historic building and help revitalize downtown Providence. In an interview with Go Local, a local media group, Prov Evan Granoff, the developer behind the Arcade, stated that “for 150 years the building was a business failure. It’s charm repeatedly saved it from demolition.” [11] The mall has seen a long steady economic decline with the great depression, increased suburbanization, and the increase of organized crime in the area. In the last 40 years the local government has been invested in rebuilding and strengthening the community. Over 606 million dollars were invested into the city to reopen the arcade, improve the city’s

rivers and river walks, make the downtown area a business hub, build spaces for community activities, make the city pedestrian friendly, and renovate existing historic buildings [23].

The renovation of the Arcade was a culmination of a five year process that converted the historic building into a mixed use residential one. Today, it consists of 48 200-400 square foot micro apartments that will soon be renovated once again into an assortment of condos and 20 commercial retail spaces [11]. To keep its revenue investmed in the local economy, the Arcade rents its spaces to local small business vendors and is the host to annual Christmas celebrations, benefits, auction events, farmers market, and art fairs [36]. However, the eight million dollar renovation of the historic arcade had a few challenges along the way.

Notably, the two largest challenges were in renovating a historic landmark in accordance with local laws and converting the typology from a shopping center to micro apartments. The project team had to take the 1828 building and make it suitable for the 2012 residential fire and building codes, while adhering to strict historic building code laws. The team decided to incorporate separate HVAC, electrical panels, meters and water heaters for each unit of the building, allowing for each unit’s future conversion to condominiums [11].

Thanks in large part to a design that has caught the eyes of local residents across the decades, the charm and grandeur of the Westside Arcade has helped to make the building strong enough to stand the test of time. Today the building serves its local community by offering much needed housing in a densely

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populated area and is still evolving to become a hybrid model of both commercial and residential architecture. The mixture of historic architecture and practical usage typology allows this refitted mall to serve its community in whatever way they see fit and is an excellent example of how stone and metal can be formed again to meet the needs of the moment.

HIGHLAND REDEVELOPMENT (ACC HIGHLAND MALL)

Figure 3: ACC Highland by Tre Dunham/Fine Focus Photography, (n.d.), http://www.redleaf-properties. com/ highland.html. Copyright by Tre Dunham/Fine Focus Photography, Redleaf Properties LLC

Project at a Glance Location: Austin Texas Architects: Gensler, Hsu Design, Lake Flato, BGK Typology: Education-anchored, Mixed-Use Redevelopment Area Type: Dence Suburban Date of Completion: Redevelopment: Still ongoing

Educational Facility: Est. 2021 Project Cost: $1 Billion USD

The Highland redevelopment is located in Austin Texas. Formally known as the Highland Mall, it was constructed in 1971 due to the rapid expansion and economic success that the city of Austin was experiencing at the time. It was a very attractive shopping center in the eastern area of the city and quickly gained success due to its proximity to the University of Austin and the surrounding working class neighborhoods [12].

As the city grew, the demographics of the neighborhoods surrounding it changed. The upper and middle class residents choose to move to the north and south-west of the city of Austin.

Following these residents, a new competitor, Barton Creek Square opened its doors in the trendier south west side of town and began to leach away the success that the Highland Mall once held[12].

With the exodus of the upper and middle class residents only the lower class ones were left to support the mall, resulting in many of its tenants and companies leaving for greener pastures[26].

This coupled with controversial allegations of discrimination consistently reported during the annual Texas Relays was the nail in the mall’s coffin and nothing was left to help keep the mall afloat and a combination of loss of interest and lack of economic support ultimany forced the Highland Mall to close in 2015[26].

Although the mall ceased to function as a shopping center, its location was still sought after. Highland mall’s central Austin location, its proximity to major roadways and to the central business districts such as the University of Texas and the international airport made it a valuable property[12]. In 2004 the city enacted the Brentwood/ Highland Combined Neighborhood

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Plan to help revitalize the areas and neighborhoods surrounding the mall. This community lead initiative allowed the current residents to be involved with the redevelopment planning where they voiced their concerns and stated what they believed would be of best interest in their community. This led to the approval for new zoning of the area, transforming the site into a neighborhood urban center. This required the new plan to allocate 10% of the proposed residential units to be affordable housing, have flexible ground floor commercial use, and reduce parking in the area [2].

The Austin Community College and RedLeaf Development saw the mall’s adaptive reuse potential and in 2012 while it was still open, acted together and purchased it and soon after started an extensive redevelopment plan, converting it into an academic campus and mixed use center. In 2014 the first phase of the redevelopment was completed. This phase consisted of adding 100,000 square feet and renovating the interior of the mall to contain: classrooms, labs, study areas, a library and media center, student commons, and a learning lab for remote and online learning. This allowed the college to expand its curriculum to offer classes in broad arts, allowed for more career specific instruction, and created specialized facilities such as a bioscience incubator.

The remodel did not come easy, to reconfigure the space, extensive structural reconstruction had to be done by adjusting the columns to fit the new open floor plan as well as reconstructing and replacing the failing roof and adding skylights. The construction team ran into problems reconfiguring the building’s mechanical systems to accommodate the different facilities within the space, as well as removing asbestos in the original walls [2].

Figure 4: ACC Highland Interior by Casey Dunn Photography, (n.d.), https://www.bgkarchitects. com/acc-highland-phase-i. Copyright by Casey Dunn Photography, BGK Architects

Figure 5: ACC Highland Lab by Casey Dunn Photography, (n.d.), https://www.bgkarchitects. com/ acc-highland-phase-i. Copyright by Casey Dunn Pho- tography, BGK Architects

Phase two of the redevelopment project is projected to be completed by mid 2021 [1]. This will transform over 81 acres into 1,200 residential units, 100,000 square feet of commercial space, 200 hospitality units, 800,000 square feet of office space, 3 parks, and 1.25 miles of trails. As of 2018 the first mixed use building contained 309 residential units and 5,000 square feet of new retail space, as well as a central park for community gatherings [2].

Figure 6: Highland-Site-Plan, Redleaf Properties. (n.d.).

Highland-Site-Plan [Digital image]. Retrieved 2020, http:// highlandatx.com/

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The Highland mall’s redevelopment is an excellent example of how a complex and intelligent design can sprout from a seemingly failing mall. The growth of the Austin Community College is notable for its usage of a pre-existing centralized prime piece of real estate that was overlooked by other developers, that was able to be repurposed into a large campus with a wide variety of amenities. The costs associated with this project were vast in terms of the structural work that needed to be undertaken as well as the cultural considerations of the community, but by investing in these ways the return on investment is expected to be vast. As time passes this project will be something to watch closely so that future architects and developers can learn from its smart design.

VANDERBUILT MEDICAL CENTER AT 100 OAKS MALL

Figure 7: Vanderbilt Healthcare at 100 Oaks Mall Main Entrance. By Mark Kempf, (ND), https://www. greshamsmith.com/project/van- derbilt-medical-center-one-hundred-oaks-mall/. Copyright by Mark Kempf, Greshamsmith,Vanderbilt University

Project at a Glance Location: Nashville Tennessee Architects: Gresham Smith Typology: Medical Mall Area Type: Dence Suburban Date of Completion: 2008 Project Cost: $64 Million 100 Oaks mall is located south of downtown Nashville Tennessee off of interstate 65 and route 155. The mall opened in 1968 in the Berry Hill district, a small suburban city outside of the metro area and became notable for being Nashville’s largest shopping center. It captured the attention of Tennesseans due to its size, abundances of stores, and the events it hosted [20].

However, its fame was short-lived as neighboring communities attracted the eye of developers who built discounted department stores. Ultimately their competition and newer design caused 100 Oaks mall to struggle to keep up to the demands and tastes of the suburban shopper. With its loss of incoming traffic, the mall portion of 100 Oaks was forced to close in 1983 and only the independently profitable stores that existed on the periphery of the mall were kept open. That is until 1989 when it reopened as an outlet mall with new and more affordable stores that were more appealing to the shoppers in the area.

The mall has stayed open throughout the years but has never recaptured the attention of shoppers or tenants due to increasing competition from similar malls and the growing presence of online

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shopping. With an outdated appearance and frequent tenant turnover, the only things that seem to have kept it alive is the discounted movie theater and a few discounted product specific chain stores [16].

In 2006 the mall was purchased by ATR Corinth Partners (ATR), a developer firm based in Dallas. They were attracted to the center because of its location and the area’s upward economic and demographic growth trend as well its capability of hosting an anchor tenant. After evaluating the site and the surrounding area, ATR noted that the community would benefit from a medical center and office spaces. About a year after acquiring the space, Vanderbilt University (a private university located in Nashville) expressed their interest in condensing many of their small clinics that were scattered around the Nashville area into one location. ATR quickly ceased the opportunity and locked down the university as the anchoring tenant on the 100 Oaks redevelopment project [2].

The redevelopment plan centered around the high revenue spaces. Fortunately for the team, the current zoning allowed for medical space usage on the site and they did not have to endure the process of rezoning. After analyzing the space, ATR concluded that the most effective usage of the space was to section off the building by level. Due to the high ceilings and accessibility restrictions, the upper level would house the centralized office space for the University. Being somewhat isolated but still accessible, the second and third floors would be redesigned as healthcare clinics and the most accessible lower

level would remain as a space for large retail chain stores. In this way, ATR could use the mixed typology spaces to flow traffic to the various areas as needed [2].

The construction phase was separated into four different sections. This was done because the mall was still open at the time and it helped keep visitors safe and the project on schedule. The remodel was straightforward and the only major updates the team had to address was the removal of asbestos and extensive reconfiguration of the mechanical, electrical and structural systems to accommodate larger HVAC systems. The team ran into problems addressing adequate parking for the building as with the current zoning the team projected that they would lack enough spaces for the amount of predicted visitors.

With the increased traffic to the site, the developers had to make sure they were providing enough parking for the customers, patients, and employees that would be working and visiting the building. To accommodate for this, 1000 parking spaces were added in the back of the site for the medical center’s employees.

Site aesthetic and functionality were also huge concerns and because of the sites increased amount of impervious areas the team worried that the increased amount of parking space and lack of greenspace would visually impact the area in a negative manner and would pose issues with the practical concerns of water management. They were conscious of how this would play with sites aesthetics and local communities feel towards it and added a succession of bioswales and rain gardens to help redirect the water runoff and break up the expansive lots with some much needed landscaping [2].

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Figure 8: Vanderbilt Healthcare at 100 Oaks Mall Front Desk. By Michael Lewis, (ND), https://www. greshamsmith. com/project/vanderbilt-medical-center-one-hundred-oaks-mall/. Copyright Michael Lewis, Gresham Smith, Vanderbilt University

At the end of the renovation the building contained 891,000 square feet of usable space. The medical center covered 450,000 square feet of the mall and encompassed the two upper levels and a five story office addition to the mall. The retail portion of the mall covered 387,950 square feet and housed 17 stores, a movie theater, and 12,000 square feet of restaurant space [2].

The addition of the medical center at 100 Oaks mall has been an asset to the area. By condensing the smaller health clinics to one central and accessible location people now have better access to their healthcare providers. With the increased traffic in the area, the redevelopment has increased local economy and property value with many of the retailers sales increasing by at least 15%

. By redeveloping this failing mall into a mixed usage space, ATR has been able to revitalize the 100 Oaks mall into a powerful medical and retail complex that both serves and benefits from the community in which it resides.

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MCALLEN PUBLIC LIBRARY

Figure 9: McAllen Public Library Entrance. The award-winning McAllen Public Library opened in 2011, a big box Walmart re-imagined By Mary Margaret Hansen, (2017), https://www.papercitymag.com/ culture/walmart-turned-library-mcallen-public-library-surreal-texas- border-towns/. Copyright 2017

by Mary Margaret Hansen

Project at a Glance Location: McAllen, Texas Architects: MSR Design Typology: Public Library Area Type: Suburban Date of Completion: 2011 Project Cost: $26 Million

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McAllen is located in southern Texas about 11 miles from the US-Mexico border. Originally starting out as a small agricultural town, it has grown to be a thriving metropolitan area. When the local Walmart decided to move to another location, the city was faced with the issue of what to do with the existing building.

The extensive building contained about 124,500 square feet and was centrally located. It was the prime location and extensive demolition costs that prompted the city to convert the big box store into a community hub, rather than to start from scratch, which also allowed for reinvestment back into the community. The city decided to repurpose the building as its central library that would serve both the city and the greater Rio Grande Valley area [14] .

Due to its easily accessible location, the city knew that the library would be handling a large amount of traffic and started the design process with the idea that it would need to appeal to a broad base of users. With this in mind the library started design and construction with their mission statement at the forefront, to build a location that “promotes open exchange of ideas through free access to information and connects a culturally diverse population with the global community.� [17] The library was split into four broad categories of kids, teens, adults, and community oriented material with each area being broken down into independent, group, and civic spaces to allow ideas to be absorbed, transmitted, and utilized as its users saw fit [17].

Mcallen library did face unique challenges in striving towards an ideal of open exchange. The space needed to make its users

feel connected and welcome within its confines, but this feeling needed to be generated from a large empty warehouse. The city and the architectural team behind the building were able to compress the building down via the usage of materials, patterns, and colors used from the floor to the ceiling as well as sectional landmarks. This created intimate and collaborative environments and its design functioned to easily guide users to locations they could best utilize [3]. Apart from that however, the team benefited greatly from the warehouse style site as it lacked permanent structural elements but did have a similar occupancy expectancy and typology, essentially presenting a blank slate that offered endless possibilities. To build upon this, the architectural team decided to create adaptable and flexible spaces so that the spaces within the building could be reconfigured as needed for future users of the site [3].

An additional challenge to the project was that the city wanted the redesigned space to have an emphasis on sustainability but had a limited budget to work with. Therefore, the architectural team had to get creative in how they were going to execute their overall design. Recycled materials were utilized heavily in construction and highly efficient building systems were invested in to cut down on the long term operating costs of the library.

In this vein the team also cut down the impervious area of the site by 23% through the addition of green spaces, walking trails, and even a storm water system that helped to reduce erosion and stream velocities to produce a more robust and inviting atmosphere [3].

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Figure 10: Children’s Section Entrance. By Lara Swimmer, (2011), https://msrdesign.com/case-study/ mcal- len-main-library/. Copyright by MSR Designs, Lara Swimmer

Figure 11: Quiet places to read books in the McAllen Public Library. By Mary Margaret Hansen, (2017), https:// www.papercitymag.com/culture/walmart-turned-library-mcallen-public-library-surreal-texasborder-towns/. Copyright 2017 by Mary Margaret Hansen

From a blank slate, the team behind the Mcallen library was able to create a collaborative and open atmosphere that promotes the exchange of ideas. The transformation of a large box into a sectioned library containing areas for all types of information transfer was intelligently achieved thanks to the usage of various materials, patterns, and colors that modulated the scale of the sections to create distinct parts of a cohesive whole. Mccallen library is proof that with ingenuity any space can be repurposed to fit the needs of the moment.

Repurposing Impervious Areas (Parking Lots) With vacant commercial spaces comes the necessary parking area to support it, with vast tracts of empty parking spaces and garages. During the recent pandemic, this has become especially noticeable with fewer people leaving their homes to go to public shopping areas. A quick pass through these areas reveals barren blacktop fields that feel lifeless. While the pandemic raged on these spaces were frequently converted to COVID 19 testing spaces, makeshift patios, play areas, and markets to help society function and navigate through the uncertain times. But when things eventually return to a more normal state another uncertainty will arise, what are possibilities for these spaces?

PART OF A BIGGER PICTURE A common option is turning the extensive impervious areas into parks, pla- zas, and walkways. Often extra impervious areas are

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converted to public outdoor community spaces alongside larger redevelopment projects.

These spaces can consist of parks, plazas, and gardens that can be used to host large outdoor community events such as fairs or markets.

Northgate Mall redevelopment in Seattle, Washington, plans on adding 281,612 square foot of public open space that will consists of active park space, Landscaped Pedestrian Connections, Urban gardens, urban plazas that will service the entire development, increasing pedestrian pathways, creating a safer and more inviting city [29].

Figure 12: Proposed Site Plan. By GGLO Design, KPFF Consulting Engineers, Simon Property Group, (2018), http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/AppDocs/GroupMeetings/DRProposal3032291AgendaID6931.pdf

Figure 13: Level 3 Plan (Oakridge Community Commons). By Henriquez Partners Architects, Stantec Architecture Ltd., Gensler, PFS Studio, Westbank, Ivanhoé Cambridge, Integral Group (2013), https:// vancouver.ca/files/cov/visualizing-the-oakridge-proposal.pdf

The Oakridge Centre redevelopment did something similar where they implemented 9 acres of green space that consists of walking paths, a children’s playground, and community gardens [30]. Again focusing on the community, this creates safe spaces to grow community bonds and helps reduce unusable impervious areas and helps create a safer environment for the users.

Figure 14: Aerial View Looking East. By Henriquez Partners Architects, Stantec Architecture Ltd., Gensler, PFS Studio, Westbank, Ivanhoé Cambridge, Integral Group (2013), https://vancouver.ca/files/ cov/visualizing-the-oakridge-proposal.pdf

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NATURAL LANDSCAPE A leader in repurposing impervious area is an organization called Depave whose main objective is to “empower community members to change their surroundings from pavement to thriving landscapes that bring people together, foster stewardship, increase safety, augment play and learning spaces, provide places to grow food, capture stormwater and add to the urban tree canopy.” [6]. Depave creates green focused environments through the creation of community parks, natural landscaping, and habitat restoration, among other green minded ideas.

Their mission is a wonderful benefit to the environment not just because of their focus on greenery which has a positive carbon benefit, but also because paved surfaces increase water runoff pollution and facilitate the heat island effect [6].

Another option is to turn pavement into urban gardens. Growing Lots urban farming is a CAS (community-supported agriculture) produce farm in Minneapolis Minnesota. Formerly three vacant lots (two of which were vacant parking lots) the farm supplies locally grown produce to community wholesalers, chefs, CSA members, and local farmer’s markets [13]. These environmentally focused options help to reverse the harmful physical effects that humans have on the environment and also strengthen community bonds by having local members be involved in the planning, action, and results phase of the project.

REPURPOSING PARKING GARAGES There are also options to reuse existing parking structures, like the Knighley parking garage (now known as Boradway Autopark), which opened in 1950 in Wichita, Kansas but found itself vacant in 2009. With no real demand to keep it profitable

and running, a local development team ceased the opportunity to turn the historic parking garage in an apartment building. The former parking structure now houses 44 one bedroom units and offers the residents each a covered parking space a few steps away from their apartment, covered patios, and four common areas [21].

Figure 15: Broadway Autopark Apartments. By Essential Images Photography (2013), https:// sheldenarchitec- ture.com/portfolio_item/broadway-parking-garage/, Copyright by: Essential Images Photography, Shelden Architecture

Parking garages are also being reimagined as civic and public spaces. With malls increasingly staying empty due to COVID, garages are being used as covered temporary markets and doing simple things such as resurfacing the concrete floors can help transform these former parking spaces into playgrounds and gyms [5]. Northwestern University also has a great example where they converted one of their parking structures into a business incubator that allows students and professionals to work with one another in a collaborative environment [10].

As evidenced by the case studies these massive structures are able to be effectively repurposed and can function with a variety of typologies. The benefits of doing so allow prime real estate to be obtained with minimal competition due to the sheer size of the acquired asset and access to structures that the local population are familiar with and in some instances admire. However, the limitations associated with building within a predefined structure and losing the complete creative control to build anything is significant and is a major consideration, so the question should be asked, is it practical and profitable in normal circumstances to undertake such a project?

Financing Logistics

Figure 16: Cafe and Reception. By Garrett Rowland (n.d.), https:// www.norconinc.com/ northwestern-garage, Copyright by: Garrett Rowland, Gensler, Norcon Inc.

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When taking on these larger projects, many development teams have been able to obtain financing in their typical fashion, through bank loans, retail REITS, independent or a private investors, 1031 exchanges, cash, owner financing, Opportunity Zone funds, and mezzanine financing.

Because the current owner of the site is looking to sell their property, many of the developers are able to obtain their property at a lower price.

According to the National Association of Retailers (NAR), who did a study on acquiring vacant mall properties, developers were able to acquire properties at prices that were about 43% lower then their appraised or listed price, with the cost per square foot at an average of $80 and an average going in cap rate of 7%. When acquiring an existing building, developers often need to alter its current zoning and usage to fit their needs and the same study conducted by the NAR found that only 20% of the studied malls had to rezone and 17% were still inquiring with the city or the city did not have any zoning laws [28].

$80 [28]. Therefore, it would make sense to compare acquisition and renovation costs vs the cost to build a brand new building.

However, issues arise with the multitude of possible options that both of these options present, as with new buildings acquisition costs and demolition costs are often included but hard to calculate, so for this paper a comparison will only be made for standard building costs and exclude acquisition, demolition, and design consideration costs from all numbers presented.

I will also touch on some typical architectural and structural concerns when converting a bigbox or mall property in the respective typologies and compare and contrast the effects these adaptive reuse buildings have on communities that they reside in.

Medical Malls Adaptive Reuse Models For the purposes of this paper a hypothetical model will be constructed comparing the average cost to build and repurpose three different typologies of buildings: Healthcare, Education, and Housing. No consideration shall be made for regional location and or specific climate concerns so the numbers involved may vary considerably by location but the comparisons should still be valid. An assumption will be made that a mall or big box store is in an adequate condition and located in a centralized and easily accessible location. For some generalized numbers, according to a National Association of Realtors survey of 94 repurposed malls, vacant space is often sold for an average discount of 43% and the average price per square foot was approximately

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Medical facilities are often incredibly complex facilities that require space for the emergency rooms, inpatient care, maternity wards, surgical cen- ters, specialized imaging rooms, administrative facilities, and supply areas to name a few for a fairly basic location. Often hospitals will designate a focus to treat certain patients, or to focus on research or teaching, but for our model we will assume a standard 2500 square foot requirement per hospital bed for ancillary support features[8].

According to FIXR, a website designed to estimate construction and remodel costs, the average cost to build a 120 bed 300,000 square foot basic hospital is approximately $122,500,000, breaking down to $408.33 per square foot. Similarly, a 2016

paper by ASHE Health Facilities Management estimated a similar cost of $400 per square foot, excluding equipment. FIXR also estimates that on average it costs about $200 per square foot to convert older buildings into hospitals [8]. Therefore, the renovation of an example mall would cost approximately $200 per square foot vs the $400 per square foot it would take to build a new facility. Based on these findings, it would make sense to explore renovation options up until acquisition and rehab costs equaled $400 per square foot.

Table 2 Adaptive Resuse Medical Malls: Architectural Concerns Information for this table sourced from: On call at the mall: A mixed methods study of U.S. medical malls. [24]

Construction Issues and Concerns

The addition of punched windows, skylights, light wells, and light shelves help natural light penetrate the space.

Natural Light The specific care that is given in the facility will help determine the best option for accessible natural light.

Because the location of the center is accessible, the issue of security is a concern for those who are sick and vulnerable.

Table 1 Medical Malls: Cost Per Square Foot New vs. Renovation Comparison

Price Per Square Foot Renovation

New

$200

$400

Explore Renovation While...

Cost ≤ 400 Security and Privacy

For a general hospital it appears if the right opportunity presents itself it is clear that renovating an established location can save a substantial amount of money. However, a large disclaimer here is that if one were to go about searching for a mall to renovate space constraints and the layout of the mall would be a significant limiting factor for renovation. As technology and medical theory advances hospitals are able to be designed with layout in mind that contributes to overall patient health and efficiency. Designing within a predefined mall space would limit this ability and should likely be a significant cost consideration that is not able to be effectively determined here.

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Solution options

Many medical malls have decided to put their clinics on a separate floor from the retail or designate a specific wing of the mall to the center. This creates a physical barrier between the retail and clinic. Limiting the number of entrances to the clinics is another solution that many medical clinics have implemented.

Most of the time, the medical space will have their own mechanical system that will only service the clinic.

Implication of larger mechanical systems

Many existing malls have higher ceilings which help accommodate the physical space required for mechanical systems, but if systems require more space, solutions like unfinished ceilings or raising the roof are an option.

Table 3 Adaptive Resuse Medical Malls: Pros

Table 4 Adaptive Reuse Medical Malls: Cons

Information for this table sourced from: On call at the mall: A mixed methods study of U.S. medical malls. [24]

Information for this table sourced from: On call at the mall: A mixed methods study of U.S. medical malls. [24]

Medical Mall Pros Little to No Turn Over Rate

Boost economic growth

Medical tenants are typically longterm tenants who provide reliable rent.

The surrounding area will benefit from the increased traffic to the area, helping boost the economy. his typology gives people something to do while they are waiting for their test results, prescription, and/or their loved one to finish treatment. It also helps with congregating many different services together mimicking a one-stop-shop feeling.

Access and Convenience

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Medical Mall Cons

This also allows the medical workers to have access to restaurants and stores while still staying in close proximity to their work.

The location of the center will give people better access to their health care provider.

Having the mall connected makes the space comfortable and familiar because the space isn’t necessarily associated with negative emotions that people have when they visit a health care center

This may not be the right fit for your community

Balance Between Tenants

Circulation through the Space

Medical malls are not necessarily the solution to help revitalize the community. The typology has to fit the community’s needs. Since many of these malls serve middle to upper class neighborhoods, there has been little success in providing adequate healthcare to those who are in a lower economic status.

It’s hard to keep a balance between the tenants in a medical mall.

Some brands will not open a store in the mall if there is a medical center attached to it because their customers and employees will come in close contact with ill patients.

For many of these centers, efficient navigation to and from the center is a concern. Due to the extensive size of the building, many patients entering through the mall may walk a lot farther than they were anticipating.

Education Facilities Educational facilities can come in a variety of forms ranging from primary education, K - 12, to collegiate level institutes with varying levels of complexities depending on the primary focus of study. Collegiate level construction can vary widely in cost and include construction costs for classrooms, labs, student unions, dormitories, etc. The research conducted showed that more preschool, primary, and secondary educational facilities were repurposing big box buildings while collegiate facilities tend to repurpose former malls or strip malls. This most likely has to do with concerns of security and providing adequate outdoor space for that is a necessity for the K-12 facilities.

An article published by spaces4learning estimates the average area required for an elementary, middle, and high school student are 188, 173.4, and 180 square feet per student respectively[22].

For the analysis here an average primary school will be assessed.

According to an article published by spaces4learning, the 2014 median cost to construct an elementary, middle, and high school were $211.55, $242.96, and $235.29 per square foot respectively [22] . This breaks down to $229.33 per square foot for an average of the three. Based on these findings, it would make sense to explore renovation options up until acquisition and rehab costs equaled $229.33 per square foot.

Minimal information exists for the repurposing of a mall into a school apart from a few case studies, so two will be considered to generate estimated rehab costs. Waukegan’s Cristo Rey St.

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Martin Prep College and the Academy in Buffalo New York were both repurposed big box retail stores that were transformed into schools with estimated costs of $154 [33] and $185 [34] per square foot for the renovation for an average of $169.50.

Table 5 Educational Facilities: Cost Per Square Foot New vs. Renovation Comparison

Price Per Square Foot Renovation

New

$169.50

$229.33

Explore Renovation While...

Cost ≤ 229.33

If cost is a concern again it appears that renovation is something to be considered. Consideration should however be made for space constraints that renovations impose. For renovated spaces limited opportunity will be presented for easily producible sporting facilities and a bare bones classroom style school will be the result. Additional renovation is possible, but it was not considered for the purposes of this analysis.

Table 6 Adaptive Resuse Educational Facilities: Architectural Concerns

Daylighting is very important to an educational facility. It has been proven to positively impact the health, wellbeing and the student’s educational performance.

Educational Facility Architectural Challenges Construction Issues and Concerns

Solution options Many schools run into the issue of adding more plumbing to the building because the former retail store was not equipped with the correct number of restrooms.

Adequate Plumbing and Mechanical System

Depending on the school’s program, the building may require additional plumbing to accommodate wet spaces such as the cafeteria kitchen, gym locker rooms, and labs.

Natural Light

Typically the existing retail building systems are not equipped for the air quality and changeover requirements of school. A new, larger HVAC system is typically required and can pose challenges in terms of reconfiguring mechanical spaces, lifting the roof, or decreasing educational spaces.

Adequate structure

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If there are plans to add an addition or another level, the team will be faced with redoing the structure of the existing building. This may include redoing the foundation and adding more structural elements to the building, restricting the floorplan layout.

Due to the lack of fenestration on these existing buildings, the design team must be creative with how they are going to provide adequate daylighting to the space. This can be done though manipulating the exterior of the building through the addition of punched windows to the facade, skylights, and clerestory spaces.

To help the daylight penetrate as much of the interior space as possible, some schools have opted to have flexible and open learning spaces and use clear and glass demising walls when a space needs to be physically closed off.

Acoustic and thermal performance

Big Box stores are typically built with cheap steel, the overall thermal and acoustic performance of the building is low. To help improve this, many of the schools will add insulation on the walls and ceilings on the interior of the building to help keep the building tighter and to help reduce sound reverberation.

Table 7 Adaptive Resuse Educational Facilities: Pros

Adaptive Reuse Educational Facility Pros Construction Issues and Concerns

Solution options

Investment back into the community

With the addition of the school in the area, more people will migrate to the area to be closer to the school, boosting economic development.

This may also increase safety and will bring up the property value.

Table 8 Adaptive Resuse Educational Facilities: Cons

Adaptive Reuse Educational Facility Cons

Lack of funding

With public school funding decreasing, renovation may only be a practical option for privately funded schools.

Safety and security Concern

Depending on what is around the building, safety and security is a concern. If the school is in a dense area such as a downtown setting, it may be hard to regulate who is on the property at any given time.

Mixed Use Residential Mixed use housing is one of the most basic formats that a mall can be repurposed into, but a large amount of styles and variety can come from it. Studio apartments to multi-bedroom luxury condominiums can all be created given available space and interest.

For an analysis comparison, the cost of constructing a highrise apartment building will be evaluated. This specific housing

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typology was chosen as the material and methods used to construct both malls and high-rise apartment buildings are the most similar as both are major constructive undertakings.

According to FIXR, the average cost per square foot to construct a high rise apartment building is $312.50 per square foot and thus if renovation costs plus acquisition and planning can be evaluated to be a lower value than this, it would make sense to look at potential renovations [9].

Information from the National Association of Realtors 2020 paper on repurposing vacant retail malls was used to generate an estimated cost of repurposing this typology as well as a Wichita parking garage conversion. Specifically, the Worcester Center Galleria and Metro North Mall were evaluated and shown to have cost around $282.50 and $235.37 per square foot respectively [28] and the Wichita parking garage had an average square foot cost of $168 per square foot for an average of $228.62 per square foot [35].

Table 9 Mixed Use Residential: Cost Per Square Foot New vs. Renovation Comparison

Price Per Square Foot Renovation

New

$228.62

$312.50

Explore Renovation While...

Cost ≤ 312.50

Excluding acquisition and demolition costs, it appears that renovation of a mall or big box store again makes financial sense when comparing cost per square footage. Of the three typologies listed, this one has the least amount of additional consideration factors unless a luxury apartment with special amenities is being constructed.

Table 10 Adaptive Resuse Mixed Use Residential: Architectural Concerns

Table 11 Mixed Use Residential: Pros

Adaptive Reuse Mixed Use Residential Architectural Challenges

Adding and Redoing Mechanical Plumbing and Structural Systems

Meeting Residential Code

Reducing Impervious Area and Adding Greenspace

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When converting the property to residential space, the team must add additional fixtures to accommodate the residents. This will result in redoing the entire HVAC and plumbing system in the existing building.

Some teams may add more stories to have an addition that is connected to the existing building. The system of the building almost always needs to be reevaluated to accommodate the new residents.

Because these spaces were not meant to house residents, extensive planning needs to go into meeting residential codes to protect the safety and wellbeing of its residents.

This includes, but is not exclusive to, meeting egress code, adding fire proofing elements, and adding fenestrations.

Reducing impervious areas and adding green space helps transform the former retail spaces. Many examples have found ways to incorporate walking trails, parks, and water features that help benefit the site directly and the surrounding areas.

Adaptive Reuse Mixed Use Residential Pros

Investment back in to the community

Typically, these reuse residential projects are part of a larger part of a redevelopment. Because of this, these spaces become huge hubs that result in economic growth and boost community development. These spaces typically add communityfocused spaces such as parks, plazas, and retail spaces and really help revitalize the community

Table 12 Mixed Use Residential: Cons

Adaptive Reuse Mixed Use Residential Cons

Cost efficiency

The overwhelming issue is cost.

Because the existing space is hard to repurpose, many people estimate that they can use very little of the existing building and end up either passing on the project or knocking the building down. The sheer size of the building, especially if the team is interested in repurposing a mall, is very intimidating and oftentimes, the team finds another use for the building that is part of their development plan.

Conclusion As the world will continue to turn, developers and architects will need to learn to change their tactics and adapt to a new world.

The rapid adoption of eCommerce has shown that even the mightiest symbols of American consumerism are subject to the winds of change and even moreso, the Coronavirus pandemic has shown how quickly the world can be turned on its head and change the environment in a heartbeat. As changes continue and the world begins to pull itself out of the Pandemic, intelligent entrepreneurs and investors will need to reevaluate what they know about the world to find and create opportunities, and if this paper has shown anything, it is that there are huge upsides to be had in repurposing abandoned structures in terms of wealth creation, community revitalization, and environmental sustainability. As the world continues to grow and change, malls and big box stores will continue to be a large part of American society, whether they be in their true and commercial forms, or repurposed for a new and unknown existence.

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rhode-island-honors-the-micro-lofts-at- the-arcadeprovidence/ Figure 3: Dunham, T. (n.d). ACC Highland. [Photograph]. Redleaf Proper- ties. Retrieved From http://www.redleaf-properties. com/highland.html Figure 4: Dunn, C. (n.d). ACC Highland Interior. [Photograph].

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Retrieved from http://highlandatx.com/ Figure 7: Kempf, M. (n.d.). Vanderbilt Healthcare at 100 Oaks Mall Main Entrance. [Photograph]. Greshamsmith. Retrieved from https:// www.greshamsmith.com/project/vanderbilt-medicalcenter-one-hun- dred-oaks-mall/

Library opened in 2011, a big box Walmart re-imagined.

[Photograph]. Paper City Magazine. Retrieved from https:// www.papercitymag.com/culture/ walmart-turned-librarymcallen-public-library-surreal-texas-border-towns/ Figure 10: Swimmer, L. (2011). Children’s Section Entrance.

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Figure 11:Hansen, M. (2017). Quiet places to read books in the McAllen Public Library. [Photograph]. Paper City Magazine.

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Figure 13: Henriquez Partners Architects, Stantec Architecture Ltd., Gens- ler, PFS Studio, Westbank, IvanhoĂŠ Cambridge, Integral Group. (2013). Level 3 Plan (Oakridge Community Commons). [Digital Image]. City of Vancouver. Retrieved from https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/visualiz- ing-the-oakridgeproposal.pdf

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Ltd., Gens- ler, PFS Studio, Westbank, IvanhoĂŠ Cambridge, Integral Group. (2013). Ae- rial View Looking East. [Digital Image]. City of Vancouver. Retrieved from https://vancouver.ca/ files/cov/visualizing-the-oakridge-proposal.pdf Figure 15: Essential Images Photography. (2013). Autopark Apartments. [Photograph]. Shelden Architecture. Retrieved from https://sheldenarchi- tecture.com/portfolio_item/ broadway-parking-garage/ Figure 16: Rowland. G. (n.d.). Cafe and Reception. [Photograph].

Norcon Inc. Retrieved From https://www.norconinc.com/ northwestern-garage

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