The Macy’s at the Landmark Mall in Alexandria, Virginia used to be an iconic and historic building. In what is now undoubtedly a sign of the times, it has been converted into a homeless shelter until the property can be razed and its owner, the Howard Hughes Corporation, can repurpose the property and build something new at its location.
The Landmark Mall in Alexandria, VA, used to be the talk of the town - in the 1960's. Times have changed; Photo sources: NY Times
Even more telling, this homeless shelter houses many of those who used to work at the very same Macy’s.
In the realm of brick-and-mortar retail, the times are definitely a changin’. We have often, on this site, detailed not only the slow and painful death of brick-and-mortar retail as it has been occurring, but also how the value of once coveted mall property has disintegrated and similarly, how landlords of these properties now find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place – tenants are dropping like flies, sales numbers used to help calculate rent are on the decline and property appraisals have been underwhelming. This has led to a influx of abandoned property, not unlike the Macy's in Alexandria, just sitting and waiting to be repurposed.
(Photo sources: NY Times)
The Macy's in the Landmark Mall was the topic of a recent New York Times article, detailing how a once historic landmark that it is now abandoned and has become a homeless shelter, 15 months after it had its last customers. The Macy's "now provides 60 beds, hot meals and showers for families and for single men and women who are having trouble finding a place to live in a city with a scarcity of affordable housing."
Here is The New York Times on the property's once iconic status as a historic landmark:
The Landmark Mall was once at the vanguard of shopping. Opened in 1965, the mall housed the region’s most fashionable department stores, Hecht’s, Woodward & Lothrop and Sears & Roebuck. Boys came to buy their first suit at the haberdasher, and teenage girls could get their shoes dyed to match the color of their prom dress.
Alexandria’s former mayor William D. Euille remembered playing the clarinet in the high school band at the mall’s opening ceremony. “It was the economic engine of the city,” he said.
Landmark tried to adapt over the years. It began as an open-air shopping center and went through an overhaul in the 1980s to enclose the property.
Like many other malls, however, it has gone the way of the buffalo:
Eventually, the mall succumbed to retail’s propensity to chase after newer, flashier spaces. Developers built larger malls with more upscale brands nearby in Pentagon City and Tysons Corner, siphoning customers away from...