A new site plan submitted in early April by Illinois developer DTS Properties calls for demolishing the former Sears store at the Indian River Mall and demolishing or remodeling a portion of the eastern mall interior near the entrance to the former Macy’s building – reducing the entire mall structure by about 35 percent.
DTS then would constructing new, smaller stand-alone retail space, the first phase of an ambitious plan to convert the dying mall into a vibrant multi-use enclave featuring about 45,000 square feet of green space with open-air markets, specialty restaurants, a hotel, apartments and a school.
New or remodeled retail spaces range in size from about 4,000 square feet to around 58,000 square feet. Some possible new tenants include Academy Sports + Outdoors, a Nordstrom Rack department store, Hobby Lobby Arts & Crafts, Sprouts Farmers Market and a drive-thru fast-food restaurant.
Future phases are planned to include a 130-room hotel, a 9,775-square-foot school, and five residential buildings with 56 units in each building. About half the movie theaters would be removed and replaced with two free-standing retail stores.
However, current laws restrict building heights to 48 feet; the proposed height of the hotel is 58 feet. Developer DTS may apply for a height variance or may have to cut back on the number of rooms. This will be decided in phase 2 of the project. The maximum height of the other proposed buildings is 27 feet.
Also, while multi-family residential development is permissible in General Commercial (CG) zoned areas, with a maximum density of eight units per acre, the future land use designation is Regional Commercial (RG), which does not allow residences. So a future land use amendment would be required, or DTS could seek approval for a stand-alone Mixed Use Planned Development (PD). That also will be addressed during phase 2 of the project.
The next meeting of the Technical Review Committee is scheduled for May 7. An agenda has not yet been made available to the public. It is too early to know if the plans will require a public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The old mall’s other anchor store sites – occupied by JCPenney and Dillard’s – are owned and managed by other companies.
