Greyfields are defined as older, economically obsolescent retail or commercial areas. Greyfield malls have outdated buildings, large parking lots, are in disrepair, and fail to generate the revenue that would justify their continued use. Even with the entire list of negatives, the site may still have potential. The potential however, may not be in the form of a shopping mall.

Why do Greyfields Exist?

Driven by the fact that the affluent population has moved to and shops in the suburbs, smaller inner city and first-ring suburban malls are less competitive with the new suburban mega-malls. This is just one of many reasons that greyfields exist. In addition to the competitive factor, the physical deterioration of the inner city malls and first-ring suburban malls and the deterioration of the surrounding community keep shoppers away. In some cases, the mall developer predicted a 25-year lifespan of the mall and therefore has not put any additional resources into the mall over the years, thus resulting in deterioration. Other reasons include the shift in population and capital to the increasingly distant suburbs over the last 10 years and changes in the retail market.

In a recent mall study, PriceWaterhouseCooper estimated that as many as 140 regional malls are already greyfields (7 percent) with another 200 to 250 (11 to 13 percent) approaching greyfield status. Together these figures total 18 to 20 percent of all regional malls.

PriceWaterhouseCooper used $150 per square foot of sales or less per month to identify a mall as a greyfield in its study. The National Research Bureau indicates that in 1999, the average figure per month for sales per square foot was $202. Retail centers such as regional malls, strip malls, and community malls are rated based on sales per square foot. PriceWaterhouseCooper considers this the critical variable that distinguishes greyfield malls from non-greyfield malls. However sales per square foot is only the first step, PriceWaterhouseCooper also considered the mall's size, age, occupancy rate, tenant mix, and the trade area demographics before classifying the mall into one of four categories: healthy, viable, vulnerable, and greyfield.

Although these properties have been classified as greyfield malls, the site still offers certain advantages over undeveloped sites. These include the existence of infrastructure, proximity to public transportation, and population density. These sites are also fairly large with an average size of 46 acres. A large parcel of land is important to an area such as an inner city where developable land is not available or only available in small acreage. Even though the site has not been profitable in recent years, the site still carries a potential for profitability. The site needs to be converted to the highest, most profitable use.

Benefits of Redevelopment

Greyfields are more than visual blight to its neighbors; it is also a loss in tax revenue for the community and jobs for residents. With successful redevelopment, localities can prevent erosion of their tax base and will predictably increase tax revenues.

The elimination of blight through redevelopment of the site will help stimulate investment and redevelopment on adjacent properties in most cases. Successful greyfield redevelopment efforts serve both the neighborhood and the community at large. That is why the Congress for New Urbanism (CNU), and other organizations such as Urban Land Institute and American Planning Association, have taken on greyfield education and greyfield redevelopment as a new project.

The CNU believes that the ideal redevelopment for these inner city sites is to use them for transit-oriented and mixed-use developments. The CNU also believes the sites should be used for its highest, most productive use. Therefore, the redevelopment might include mixed-income housing, office space, retail stores, public space, and in many cases a mixture of all of these. They consider greyfields the logical choice for recycling as mixed-use town centers, and are developing new neighborhoods in unexpected places. These new neighborhoods incorporate a variety of housing types such as apartments, condos, townhouses, lofts over storefronts, and depending on the area and demand some include single-family detached homes. Parking resembling a mass ocean is instead a convenient parking garage. Some have even used sites to create parks with bike and hiking trails.

These developments are fusing shopping, housing, work places, entertainment, and public spaces into new neighborhoods using a neotraditional strategy. They are turning greyfields into what the CNU refers to as "goldfields". Examples of these redeveloped greyfields include Milzner Park located in Boca Raton, Florida — considered the model greyfield redevelopment. Others include CityPlace located in West Palm Beach, Florida, Eastgate Mall in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the Crossings in Mountain View, California. For further information, please consult the following web sites: