HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WZZM) -- Big changes could soon come to a struggling mall in Holland Township. WZZM 13 is learning about a plan to turn Westshore Mall into an outdoor shopping center.
When you look at a busy US-31 next to the empty parking spaces at Westshore Mall, it's hard not to think about what could be. Now, the winds of change are blowing around Westshore Mall. Owners of the mall, based in Southfield, are planning to turn the mall into an outdoor shopping center called the Shops at Westshore.
"It shows a new image, a new face, and kind of the sign of today's retail," says Jennifer Owens, president of Lakeshore Advantage.
The proposal involves demolishing a quarter of the existing mall and making a series of retail stores visible from the parking lot. Then, a second space for businesses, located closer to US-31, would be connected by pedestrian walkways. It's a similar transformation to what happened at Centerpointe Mall in Grand Rapids.
"There's definitely a trend of demalling going on nationally, where the malls are becoming more open to the public, more walkable, more accessible from driving up," says Owens.
Over the past decade, Westshore Mall has struggled to keep stores, switched ownership six times, and gone into foreclosure twice, according to township officials.
"As the economy has lagged, so has the investment in that facility," says Owens. "The mall is owned by national investors, so the fact that they're willing to invest significantly to do improvement is a really positive sign for our community."
If approved by the planning commission, construction would begin in 2015.
The mall's general manager did not want to comment on the plan until the planning commission has had a chance to review it. That's going to happen on November 11.
