CHESAPEAKE, Va. — The auctioning of Greenbrier Mall showcases the continued struggle shopping malls continue to face.
Greenbrier Mall, which opened in 1981, has seen better days like many other malls across the country. It is currently 82%occupied, but it's future is uncertain.
Jacqueline Cole, a Chesapeake resident, enjoys visiting Greenbrier Mall. "It's centrally located yes and it's a safe place," she said.
Next month, a significant portion of the mall will go up for auction to find a new owner.
Watch: Greenbrier Mall will be auctioned next month with a starting bid of $6 million
Cole hopes this may lead to improvements. "Just improving. That's all it takes is for it to be redone and add 20 stores," she said.
While walking around the mall, it remains relatively busy, with three of its four anchor stores still open.
The then owner defaulted on a loan in 2022, transferring the property to a commercial real estate company called CW Capital. This company has now decided to auction its portion of the mall, starting with a bid of $6 million.
"It's certainly not a surprise," Chesapeake Mayor Rick West said. "I think, you know, for many, many years they've predicted only one mall would survive in the region, and Greenbrier was probably destined not to be that one."
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Mayor West said that the city is closely monitoring the situation.
"The Greenbrier Mall, I will say, the location is still a very, very valuable piece of property," said West.
News 3 has been following the struggles malls have faced in recent years. According to data from The Wall Street Journal, some malls have lost 70% of their value in recent years.
Nonetheless, other malls, like Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach and Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News, continue to perform strongly.
"Some malls are thriving, but they’re thriving because they're in the right location at the right time with the right mix of retail," ODU Economist Dr. Robert McNab told News 3 in August 2023.
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Dr. McNab noted that once stores start closing, reversing that trend can be challenging.
Norfolk's MacArthur Center serves as a case in point. An advisory group valued the mall at $149 million in 2018, but that figure plummeted to $23 million by 2022.
The grim outlook prompted the city of Norfolk to purchase the property in 2023.
Could Chesapeake follow a similar path?
"All possibilities are on the table for sure," West said.
The situation at Greenbrier Mall is complicated by the fact that two other entities own smaller portions of the mall. However, West is optimistic that the city can still lead efforts to repurpose the mall into something lasting.
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"We're going to do everything that we can to ensure that it's a repurposing of the mall," he said. "Can’t predict that and can’t control that, but we certainly are going to do everything within our powers as a city to ensure that it is repurposed for the improved quality of our citizens and region."
Meanwhile, Cole hopes to keep shopping at Greenbrier for the convenience.
"This mall is centrally located to get you from here to Norfolk to Chesapeake and Virginia Beach and Hampton, so it's in a great spot," said Cole.
