Macomb Mall to Undergo Major Redevelopment Plan

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Lormax Stern Development Co. today will formally kick off its plan for redeveloping the aging Macomb Mall in Roseville that will include a major renovation and the addition of several new retailers, including Dick’s Sporting Goods.

The Bloomfield Hills-based development company has managed the 900,000-square-foot complex, located at 32233 Gratiot Ave, since May 2013, and will oversee what is the first major construction project the facility has seen in nearly 20 years.

“What’s truly exciting about this is that it’s (based off) an existing project — one that is 50 years old and had some components that were obsolete or underperforming,” says Karl Zarbo, director of operations at Lormax Stern. “Today, I think it’s easy to run out to green pastures and build something out of the dirt. But we believe this is a marvelous opportunity to reposition this asset so that it’s functioning for the next 50 years.”

Besides Dick’s, the project will bring several new retailers, including Lane Bryant, Shoe Carnival, GNC, and Ulta. Other plans include new ceilings, lights, flooring, and exterior landscaping, as well as retrofitting the iconic Macomb Mall sign near Gratiot and Masonic Boulevard. The development is expected to take three to five years to complete.

“We’re also building some small outbuildings that have that strip center, convenience look and appeal,” Zarbo says. “The thought process there is to be as protective as we can of our shoppers’ time. So we’re looking for that convenience factor, the ability to get in and get out.”

Zarbo says the plans for the project have had a positive impression on some of the venue’s 50 stores and restaurants, which include Kohl’s, Old Navy, Victoria’s Secret, Sears, and Babies R Us. “I think one of the neatest things that we’re seeing is that we have a large number of existing tenants that are extending their leases and renovating their stores, and we think that’s a great endorsement. That’s really not coming from us — that’s coming from the tenants that want to stay on with this new concept,” he says.

This is the third major mall redevelopment Lormax Stern has undertaken in recent years. The Bloomfield Hill-based company demolished, rebuilt, and reopened Macomb Mall’s sister center, Livonia Mall in 2010, and is putting the final touches on Centerpointe Mall in Grand Rapids, where the development company is converting the enclosed facility into an outdoor mall.