Living at the Mall Is Becoming a Suburban Reality

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Here's a new direction for suburban malls: Developers are building apartment buildings on unused portions of mall parking lots. The Wall Street Journal reports that in Minnesota, Simon Property Group built a luxury residence on the corner of the Southdale Center parking lot to create a new "town center" concept. The idea is that living within walking distances of shops and restaurants will appeal to millennials.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Simon has built or plans to build similar apartments on mall properties in Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta, and other mall operators have created similar residential components.
· Home Is Where the Mall Is [WBJ]
· The Future of Malls May Rest On Urban Farming [Racked]
· Anthropologie Mini-Malls Keep Shoppers Entertained for Hours [Racked]
· Claire's Abandons Its Tween Customers for Toddlers [Racked]