Green Street Advisors, a California-based research firm, estimates that mall values have plunged 45 percent from their 2016 peak. mall business that has crushed property values and pushed many mortgages into default. 'It reminds me of retail prior to e-commerce.'Ī successful redevelopment could bring Water Tower back from a devastating downturn in the U.S. The property is due for a makeover, says Amanda Lai, manager at McMillan Doolittle, a Chicago-based retail consulting firm. Other highlights include a food hall on the mall's mezzanine level, co-working space on its fifth floor and an entertainment space on the sixth. New York-based Brookfield would tear out the escalators and cascading fountains inside its main entrance and build out a corridor and several stores on the first floor. The plans from last summer offer a sneak peek of a major turnaround envisioned by Brookfield Property Partners, owner of the storied but struggling vertical mall. Water Tower's post-pandemic future also will include a much smaller role for its second-largest tenant, American Girl, which is shrinking its store there and giving up valuable space along North Michigan Avenue, according to plans shared with prospective tenants and brokers and confirmed by the retailer.

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