EXCLUSIVE: Redevelopment Planned For Oxford Valley Mall

The Oxford Valley Mall is the biggest retail property in Bucks County and is primed for a major redevelopment in the coming years.

Numerous sources have confirmed the mall’s owner – Simon Property Group – has been working over the past few years on a redevelopment of the site that would be completed in several phases. Monday marked the first time that the plans have been acknowledged on-the-record by the company that owns and operates the mall.

The sprawling 190-acre property that contains the mall and Lincoln Plaza sits within a few minute commute of Route 1, I-95 and I-295, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and a SEPTA rail station. The mall and surrounding businesses in Middletown draw residents from Bucks County, Northeast Philadelphia, Montgomery County, and Mercer and Burlington counties in New Jersey. A slide deck from Simon Property Group notes that the average household income within a few miles of the mall is $96,638 and its customers extend all the way into the city and Central Bucks County.

A number of sources that LevittownNow.com has talked with over the past two years have stated officials from the mall and Simon Property Group have floated a proposal to redevelop the 1,336,000-square-foot complex. One portion of the plan that was cited by every source was residential units that would be built and integrated into the shopping area that would continue its shift to focus on mixed use and higher-end retailers. Other portions of the ever-changing plan that Simon Property Group has floated include adding eateries, a “lifestyle complex,” new retailers, and refreshed office space. The mall would not be closed or entirely demolished, but refreshed and reimagined for a new era.

On Monday evening before the Board of Supervisors, developer Villanova-based CornerstoneTracy, which is working with Simon Property Group, laid out their vision to add a higher-end apartment center abutting the mall on Simon Property Group-owned land. Firm owners David Della Porta and Donald Tracy advised that their plans were conceptual at this point but moving forward.

Middletown Director of Building and Zoning Pat Duffy said complete plans for the development have not been submitted to the township, but an overview of the proposal has been provided. Similar information was also provided to the Bucks County Planning Commission.

Della Porta said the two four-story residential buildings each with their own parking structures would be constructed on roughly 20 acres that today is a parking lot and the closed Boscov’s anchor store. The first building would have about 390 living units and the second would have 210. They would feature a fitness center, indoor and outdoor common spaces, dog park, pools, and full-time management, maintenance, and concierge services like dog walking on site.

To complete the vision for the housing area, about 165,000 square feet of the mall, the entire former Boscov’s location, would have to be demolished.

“That offers enough space to create a real residential neighborhood that works,” Della Porta said.

The plan would compliment the mall and also create a separate environment for the residents of the mix of studio, single-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments aimed at young professionals, Della Porta explained, adding the proposal includes eight acres of green spaces where there are currently parking lots.

The two buildings would feature about 10 percent studio apartments, 50 percent one-bedroom units, and 40 percent two-bedroom units.

The 600-unit complex, which would have 1,120 parking spaces, would be on the “high end of the market,” Della Porta said.

While technically separate, the proposal was being explained in the context of the expected plans to revitalize the mall complex.

“Simon is very interested in future redevelopment potential for the mall and has been looking at numerous development options over the years,” said Denise Yarnoff, an attorney representing Simon Property Group.

Yarnoff said the company with properties across the country and in different countries is “very seriously looking at what they can do in the future.” She said the housing would be the first step in any redevelopment of the mall.

Della Porta said the proposed residential center could be a catalyst to revitalize the mall property and has been successful elsewhere.

Ideas for residential living units on the mall property have been talked about in the past, but the most recent proposal is different and more complete, sources have said.

“We’ve done a lot of homework to make ourselves comfortable,” Della Porta said when asked Monday if he was certain the complex could work even if the mall is not redeveloped.

Simon Property Group is expected to come before the Supervisors in fall to request a zoning change for the site to allow mixed use.

Each one of the residential buildings would take about two years to build due to their size, Della Porta said.

Supervisor Amy Strouse encouraged developers to consider a shuttle or similar service to ferry residents between the complex and the Woodbourne train station. Della Porta said the development would promote use of public transit.

Yarnoff declined to give a timeline for when Simon Property Group would return before the Supervisors to present a complete plan for the mall complex.

As Middletown has worked to update its 1990s-era comprehensive plan, numerous residents at a recent planning session often mentioned their hope that the mall would be redeveloped.

The mall was built in 1973 on the site of farmland and a sod airfield. It last underwent a major update in 1998. It features just under 150 stores of varying sizes and is next to the 115,000-square-foot, eight-story One Oxford Valley office building.

The Oxford Valley Mall has seen many changes over the years and features four anchor stores, but two are currently vacant. Of the four stores, the former Boscov’s has been empty since 2008 and the Sears closed earlier this year. The Boscov’s anchor location had been considered for redevelopment in the past, but no serious plans ever moved forward. A proposal to redevelop the Sears location as a charter school fell through.

Earlier this year, the mall property was assessed for tax purposes and went from a value of $395 million to $304 million.

The Oxford Valley Mall has worked to keep up with the changes in shopping culture over the years and has always been a destination in Lower Bucks County. In the mid-2000s, American Idol singers, Danity Kane, and the Plain White Ts were among the headliners who performed concerts in the mall. In more recent years, the mall has refocused on being a more upscale shopping destination and catering less to teens. However, the large mall has also appeared more empty as stores close, shoppers go online, and the complex ages.

Over the past few years, the mall welcomed the opening Nordstrom Rack  and HomeSense in the connected Lincoln Plaza Shopping Center. Work is underway on two sets of eateries set open in the coming months.

Simon Property Group has been working across the country to buck the trend of declining malls.

Retail research firm Cushman and Wakefield estimated that trips to malls have decreased by as much as 50 percent in recent years. The news comes on top of research from Credit Suisse that predicts as many as 25 percent of malls could close in the next five years.

The main problem for malls are large anchor stores like Sears and Macy’s are shrinking their physical footprints as more and more shopping happens online and legacy costs add up.

At other shopping locations, Simon Property Group has been working on redevelopment plans that feature mixed use development.

In the suburbs of Seattle, the company has worked to reinvent the Northgate Mall by proposing a mixed-use development geared toward residents moving out of Seattle’s expensive downtown. The development focuses less on large anchor stores but on mixing retail, residential, and open space.

The company is finishing a complete overhaul of the 42-year-old Shops at Riverside in North Jersey by turning it into a luxury shopping complex.

At the Burlington Mall in the suburbs of Boston, Simon Property Group has expanded with new higher-end stores and eateries and a park. They also remade a closed Sears’ store into a “lifestyle center” that connects to a mixed-used building.

Outdated mall Phipps Plaza in Atlanta is undergoing a massive overhaul country of Simon Property Group. The plans call for a parking deck, 150-room hotel, eateries, and a 90,000-square-foot “healthy living and entertainment destination” that features a spa, rooftop pool, and kids’ center. It also adds a green office building, according to Curbed Atlanta.

The 1950-era Southdale Center is being developed into a fresh mixed-use complex by the company. It will feature a 120,000 square-foot fitness center and has drawn developers to nearby properties to add new condos and living areas.

The nearby King of Prussia Mall in Montgomery County has undergone a $150 million-plus redevelopment over the past few years. It’s connected shopping areas, refreshed the entire complex, added more high-end stores, and is expanding with a lifestyle complex. The Simon Property Group mall is the largest (by retail space) in the country at more the 3 million square feet of retail. Some of the upgrades have drawn new mixed-used and residential development around the mall property, including the nearby JBG SMITH Properties-owned King of Prussia Town Center that features, eateries, shopping, residences, and office space in a community layout.

View this post on Instagram

The firm working to add the two housing buildings to the Oxford Valley Mall, CornerstoneTracy was involved in construction of the high-end AVE King of Prussia apartment and extended stay complex located right next to the King of Prussia Town Center mixed-use development.

Simon Property Group touted their redevelopment progress in their most recent earnings call.

On the call and in public financial documents, Simon Property Group stated they are making money and ended its most recent financial quarter with more than $6.8 billion liquid assets.

Across Simon Property Group, the company reported occupancy was at 94 percent as of June 30 with retailer sales per square foot and leasing spread per square foot both increasing.

With a growing number of mall-based retailers facing financial peril, Simon Property Group CEO David Simon said during a recent conference call that the company would consider investing in some of the firm’s largest tenants to keep them strong, according to CNBC.

Simon Property Group appears to be hedging its bets on a new breed of malls and showing early signs of success.

 

 

Reporters Amanda Burg and Erich Martin contributed to this article.