Big changes ahead for Cary's oldest shopping mall
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A rendering of the future South Hills development, courtesy of Loden Properties
The partially vacant South Hills Mall & Plaza in Cary will be the site of one the region's largest redevelopments over the next decade after the town approved a rezoning for the 44-acre property on Tuesday night.
Why it matters: The rezoning paves the way for significant changes at Cary's oldest shopping mall, which has been in decline for many years and sits at the highly trafficked intersection of U.S. 1 and Interstate 40.
State of play: Today, South Hills exists as a sea of parking lots around mostly empty retail strips.
- The plan, put forward by Raleigh-based Loden Properties, would turn the 44-acre property into blocks of smaller development that the town and developers hope will add more greenery and walkability.
- The first phase of construction is expected to begin next year.
Zoom in: Loden bought the property with Chicago-based Northpond Partners in 2021 for nearly $40 million.
The redevelopment project, which will be built over a 10-year period, would add around 4.5 million square feet of retail, office and residential space on the property. That would include:
- 550,000 square feet of retail space
- 935,000 square feet of office space
- 235,000 square feet of lab space
- 1,755 apartments — 5% of them would be set aside for renters making 80% of the area median income
- 350 hotel rooms
The anchor of the property would be the town's planned sports recreation center, which has received a $75 million grant from Wake County and will include space for youth and collegiate sports events.
What they're saying: Henry Ward, a partner at Loden, told Axios that breaking the property into multiple blocks will give it flexibility to match what the market demands.
- For example, he said, he doesn't imagine the first phase will include any office components, but will likely have a mixture of retail, restaurants and apartments. All of the buildings will be mixed-use, he said.
- The first phase will focus on the 22 acres that make up the southern portion of the property and will include the recreation center and between six to eight parcels for development.
