Just off Interstate 75 at exit 68 north of Dayton, the Tipp City Plaza once bustled with businesses, offering a convenient spot to pick up groceries, dry cleaning and lunch all in one stop.
These days, though, about half the storefronts are vacant.
An “AVAILABLE” sign leans against a window so dirty people have drawn shapes into the dust.
Next door, at a grocery store abandoned years ago, bags of chips and salsa, bottles of juice and cans of vegetables still line the shelves.
“This is right off the highway — the entrance to our downtown — and this is kind of the first thing you see,” said City Manager Eric Mack. “It's really not very welcoming or nice looking.”
So after months of consideration, Tipp City decided to intervene. In December, it agreed to purchase the struggling plaza for almost $7 million, with hopes of redeveloping the space.
Other cities across the state are making similar moves.
Plans to redevelop struggling shopping centers
On the opposite side of Dayton, the City of Middletown purchased the defunct Towne Mall in August. Once a shopping destination, the city is now considering new uses for the space. Residents have suggested pickleball courts, a water park, arcade and skate park.
Just north of Middletown, the city of West Carrollton demolished an old shopping center a few years ago to make way for its new river district — a development that will include apartments and condos, plus a whitewater park for kayaking and river surfing.
Cleveland is offering property tax breaks for a project redeveloping the Galleria Mall. Part of those plans involve creating an entertainment space, where visitors can gather to watch live sports on big screens.
And two projects are underway in the Cincinnati area to repurpose dying malls.
On the east side, Union Township is collaborating with a design firm to re-envision the Eastgate Mall. And to the city’s north, Springdale City Council approved a plan to redevelop the former Tri-County Mall into apartments, hotels and a medical office building.
Why are so many malls struggling?
Massive projects like these are necessary because the malls no longer serve the purposes they were built for, says Lee Peterson, a retail expert and executive vice president of strategy for WD Partners in Dublin, Ohio.
“Those malls have become ghost towns,” he said.
His company studies consumer shopping habits. In 2018, they found only about 20% of people preferred to shop online. Today, that number has soared to 70%.
“The pandemic was like letting the genie out of the bottle for online shopping,” Peterson said.
As more people discovered the ease of e-tailers, traffic dropped at strip malls like the Tipp City Plaza and lower-tier indoor malls like Middletown’s Towne Mall. As a result, shopping centers across the country have been devastated.
“Retailers [are] bailing on their leases, or their leases are up and they're not going to renew. Department stores are closing all across the country. And subsequently, the developers have to do something with these spaces,” Peterson said. “That's where the cities may step in and say, ‘We’ll give it a try with something completely different.’”
But can cities be successful?
Probably not if they plan on bringing in the same types of chain retailers as before, Peterson said. But if they can find new uses for the land — like housing or green spaces, coworking offices and local coffee roasters — they could be.
Peterson says a popular idea lately is the “15-minute city” — where people can live, work, exercise and have fun all within a 2-mile radius.
“It's pretty idealistic, but, you know, 10 years from now, we may not think that at all,” he said.
The future of Tipp City Plaza
Tipp City’s plans for its recently purchased plaza start small.
“In the short term, [we’re] trying to make it look a little better for the residents,” Mack said.
The city plans to fill in the potholes that litter the parking lot and touch up the landscaping to help the space feel more inviting.
But the long-term vision is more grand. There’s nothing concrete in place yet, but Mack says the dream is for the property to be a mixed-use space.
“Potentially an apartment building right here,” Mack said, “[and] some retail spaces up closer to Main Street.”
It’ll likely take years before the city can begin redevelopment in earnest, but when it does, Mack is hopeful the area will thrive with city leadership — just like it did so many years ago under private ownership.
