New Mall Development Becomes Brutal

This front page Wall Street Journal article features a glimpse into the infighting that has arisen as a result of the over-malling of America.

1 minute read

April 20, 2002, 10:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen

Faced with stiff competition, mall companies are using the legal process to thwart one another's development plans. These NAMIMBY's (Not A Mall In My Back Yard) are now funding mall competitors to litigate and delay or prevent a competitor's plans for a new mall. "[T]he mall game is changing quickly these days as the nation gets increasingly malled up. The U.S. now has about 1,800 malls, which industry watchers say is about a third too many. The number of markets that can support more malls is shrinking rapidly... As a result, mall developers, mostly led by a handful of families -- including the Simons, Taubmans, Ratners, and Bucksbaums -- have gotten into more frequent and nastier clashes over increasingly marginal markets." Editor's note: The Wall Street Journal may require a subscription to read the full text of this story.

Thanks to The Practice of New Urbanism

FULL STORY: Mall Developers Fight Fiercely For Shrinking Amount of Turf

Saturday, April 20, 2002 in Wall St. Journal

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