Legal hurdles stall redevelopment of dead malls

2026-09-15

Redeveloping dead malls across the US into mixed-use neighborhoods faces significant challenges due to outdated zoning laws and restrictive covenants with former anchor tenants. The Sunrise Mall in California and White Flint Mall in Maryland exemplify these issues, with redevelopment efforts stalled by decades-old agreements. Urban planner M. Nolan Gray suggests suspending residential bans in commercial contracts, setting reasonable expiration dates for covenants and allowing judges to dismiss outdated agreements.

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