Mall Do’s & Don’ts: Constantly invest in your properties

DO…be willing to reinvest in your properties constantly. Your center has to look healthy and vital. Simply put, your center must have new appeal to people every time they travel or visit, and that takes a lot of imagination, resilience, hard work and money.

Malls are a unique type of commercial real estate.  They’re living things that are complex and made up of many different parts, and each needs to be approached separately. New enhancements or transformations that are done take a lot of thought because they’ll ultimately change and enhance the perception of what that mall is.

When we built the on-site Embassy Suites Hotel at Destiny USA in Syracuse, the center became something different, transforming it into an international travel and tourism destination. The hotel provided us with unique opportunities to offer guests special “Shop & Stay” and “Stay & Play” packages, along with a premium “Shop & Drop” shopping bag delivery program for hotel guests. Almost immediately, the perception of the property changed. That allowed us to broaden our appeal and attract exciting new tenants to the property in entertainment and food and beverage.

DON’T…rest on your laurels and stop reinvesting in your shopping centers. Once you do those two things, it’s game over. Malls are incredibly dynamic. They’re not like office or residential. Office space becomes like a coupon clipper. You can keep them going for long periods of time with three people and a calculator. However, malls can grow stale. You could have a 100%-leased mall and I guarantee you it will get stale after a few years. People are always looking for what’s new and what’s fresh, so change and an evolution of the experience is a very good thing.

Stephen J. Congel’s Pyramid Management Group operates 14 properties in the Northeast, including Destiny USA in Syracuse and Hampshire Mall in Massachusetts. It is one of the largest privately held developers in the region.