17 Shopping Malls Converted Into Something Totally Unexpected
The American shopping mall, once the crown jewel of suburban life and consumer culture, has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent decades. As online shopping has surged and consumer habits have shifted, many once-thriving malls have fallen silent, their vast spaces and parking lots sitting empty.
But creative developers, community leaders, and entrepreneurs have begun to see these massive structures not as relics of a bygone retail era but as opportunities for innovation and reimagination. Here is a list of 17 shopping malls that found surprising new leases on life, transforming from retail destinations into something completely unexpected.
These reinventions demonstrate how adaptable these massive structures can be when creative minds get to work.
Epic Games Headquarters
Epic Games, creator of the wildly popular Fortnite video game, made an unexpected move by purchasing the entire Cary Towne Center in Cary, North Carolina. The gaming giant transformed the 980,000 square foot, 87-acre mall property into its global headquarters campus.
After losing three of its five anchor tenants, the mall seemed destined for abandonment until Epic Games saw its potential as a sprawling campus to house its operations and community space.
Medical Centers at One Hundred Oaks
The One Hundred Oaks Mall in Nashville, Tennessee underwent a remarkable transformation when Vanderbilt University Medical Center leased more than half of its 800,000 square feet in 2007. The mall’s old main entrance was converted into the lobby of the medical center, with twenty clinics and administrative offices replacing former shops and department stores.
Interestingly, the other half of the mall continues to operate as retail space, creating a unique hybrid that serves multiple community needs.
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Highland Campus at Austin Community College
Education found a home at the former Highland Mall in Austin, Texas when Austin Community College District repurposed the mall’s 800,000 square-foot windowless shell into a vibrant learning hub. The transformation included removing parts of the roof to create an open-air pathway or “paseo” that welcomes the community to venues like a theater, arts gallery, and culinary arts center.
The innovative design preserved the mall’s structure while completely reimagining its purpose.
Micro-Lofts at the Arcade Providence
America’s oldest enclosed shopping mall found new life through an innovative housing concept. Built in 1828 as The Westminster Arcade, the nation’s oldest indoor shopping mall closed in 2008 but now thrives as a residential structure consisting of 48 micro-lofts on the former mall’s top two floors, with 20 retail shops remaining on the ground level.
These compact living spaces have proven extremely popular, demonstrating the potential for malls to address housing needs.
Google’s Los Angeles Office Space
Google saw potential in the dying Westside Pavilion shopping center in Los Angeles. The tech giant agreed to lease the entire mall for its office campus, dubbed One Westside.
The mall’s conversion was expected to be completed by 2022, with a key selling point being its connection to Los Angeles Metro’s Expo Line. This transformation shows how well-positioned malls with good transportation access can serve as ideal corporate campuses.
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Church at the Mall
In Lakeland, Florida, Lakes Church (formerly known as Church at the Mall) purchased an entire shopping center that once contained Sam’s Club and Montgomery Ward. The vast open spaces of former department stores proved ideal for large gatherings, with the former bowling alley transformed into an 800-person sanctuary and other retail spaces converted into classrooms, creating a complete religious campus.
Gardens Under Glass
The Galleria at Erieview in Cleveland took advantage of its striking architecture in a truly innovative way. With beautiful vaulted glass ceilings that let in tons of natural light, the mall found a new purpose when herbs and salad greens were grown hydroponically in the mall’s glass atrium.
Former jewelry stalls were repurposed as gardens on wheels in a project called Gardens Under Glass. This agricultural adaptation showed how mall architecture could support urban farming initiatives.
Joplin High School
After a devastating tornado destroyed Joplin High School in Missouri, educators quickly transformed a former Venture department store in Joplin’s Northpark Mall into a temporary high school. In just 55 days, the space was converted with movable walls creating classroom spaces within the 90,000 square foot former retail area.
Though temporary, this adaptation demonstrated how quickly mall spaces could be repurposed for educational needs in emergency situations.
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Avalon Alderwood Place Apartments
A former Sears store at the Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood, Washington was reimagined as residential housing. Developers constructed Avalon Alderwood Place, a 328-unit, two-tower apartment complex on the mall grounds where the closed Sears anchor store once stood.
The apartments became part of the mall’s 1.3 million square feet of retail space, helping draw thousands of potential customers to the shopping hub each week.
Hickory Hollow’s Multi-Use Transformation
The Hickory Hollow Mall in Nashville found new life through diversification. After shuttering in 2011, it reopened as Global Mall at the Crossings with a completely new strategy.
Instead of focusing solely on retail, the mall added a satellite campus of Nashville State Community College, a library, a recreation center, and perhaps most unusually, a practice rink for Nashville’s NHL team. This multi-use approach created a true community hub.
Fair Oaks Health and Recreation Center
The Fair Oaks Mall in Columbus, Indiana took a wellness-focused approach to reinvention. As the mall went into decline, city leaders and a regional health system purchased the building and renovated it as a health and recreation center.
The master plan proposed transforming it into a 526,750-square-foot health, wellness, and recreation center focused on improving the holistic well-being of Columbus residents.
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RedBird Medical Center
A former Sears department store at The Shops at RedBird in southern Dallas found a new purpose in healthcare. UT Southwestern Medical Center at RedBird transformed the space into an outpatient primary care and specialty clinic that provides infusion therapy, advanced imaging, cardiology, neurology, and primary care.
The renovation included cutting a new courtyard into the building’s boxy facade to bring light and greenery into the space.
Westminster Downtown District
In Westminster, Colorado, developers took the radical approach of completely demolishing the Villa Italia Mall and building a new downtown district that the suburb never had. The redevelopment turned the 100-acre superblock site into 22 blocks of walkable, urban streets that connect with neighboring streets.
The ground floors feature shops with offices or apartments above. This complete transformation tripled density while quadrupling tax revenue.
Data Center Conversion
The Marley Station Mall in Baltimore found a new purpose in the digital economy. One wing of the mall became home to a data-center company. The transition proved so successful that the company wanted to buy out the rest of the facility.
Similar conversions have happened in Mississippi and Indiana, showing how the climate-controlled environments of malls can be ideal for housing sensitive computer equipment.
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Plankinton Clover Apartments
The Grand Avenue Mall in Milwaukee underwent a residential conversion that particularly resonated with younger generations. The Plankinton Clover apartments took over part of the mall structure, offering 50 units with amenities like pickleball courts, a dog wellness center, bicycle storage, and access to the area’s 3rd Street Market Hall food court.
The complex became a viral sensation on TikTok, generating 1.5 million views.
Wonder Falls Resort
The abandoned Rainbow Centre mall in Niagara Falls, New York found new life in tourism. Plans were developed to turn the former mall into a “Wonder Falls” Resort featuring a hotel tower, amusement facility, and indoor water park.
This reimagining leveraged the mall’s proximity to one of North America’s premier tourist destinations.
Port Orchard Mini-Storage
A struggling mall in Port Orchard, Washington took a practical approach to repurposing. The mall added more than two dozen mini-storage areas after most traditional retailers departed.
The facility evolved into a mixed-use space housing a church, radio station, karate school, and beauty and barber shops alongside the storage units. This pragmatic solution found a way to monetize empty retail space while maintaining some community functions.
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Bridging Past and Future
These innovative mall transformations represent more than just creative real estate solutions – they symbolize how communities adapt to changing economic and social landscapes. According to industry data, over 54% of mall redevelopments now include residential uses and 35% include office spaces, with others incorporating hotels, medical facilities, and entertainment venues.
The repurposing of these massive structures preserves their useful elements while reinventing their purpose for contemporary needs. What these transformations ultimately show is that our built environment doesn’t have to become obsolete when consumer habits change.
With vision and creativity, yesterday’s shopping destinations can become tomorrow’s living spaces, workplaces, and community hubs – proving that adaptation, not abandonment, may be the most sustainable path forward.
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