Where’s Kohl’s? Proposed master plan for Merle Hall Mall excludes retailer
KATHY A. BOLTEN Dec 14, 2020 | 5:42 pm
2 min read time
530 wordsAll Latest News, Real Estate and Development, Retail and Business
A proposed Merle Hay Mall master plan was released today. The master plan includes the footprint of a proposed new ice arena and hotel, both of which would take up space now occupied by Kohl’s department store. Master plan rendering by Woolpert architecture firm
A proposed multiuse arena at Merle Hay Mall would stretch from the former Younkers department store site north into where Kohl’s department store is now located, according to a master plan for the mall property released today in advance of Tuesday’s Des Moines Urban Design Review Board meeting.
The master plan doesn’t include Kohl’s, although it does show big-box retailer Target, which is located in the southeast corner of the mall, and Flix Brewhouse, located on the mall’s south side.
What the master plan does show is an anchor tenant in the proposed strip retail center that would be constructed on ground now occupied by the vacant building where Sears department store had been located.
Elizabeth Holland, Merle Hay Mall’s owner, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
However, Holland has previously said that when Kohl’s originally approached Merle Hay about locating in the mall more than a decade ago, they wanted a spot that faced Merle Hay Road.
“I can tell you that when Kohl’s bought their store from me in 2008, they wanted to be on Merle Hay Road, so we’re hopeful they will achieve their wish,” Holland said during the September 2019 Iowa Commercial Real Estate Association Expo.
The master plan doesn’t include Kohl’s, although it does show big-box retailer Target, which is located in the southeast corner of the mall, and Flix Brewhouse, located on the mall’s south side.
What the master plan does show is an anchor tenant in the proposed strip retail center that would be constructed on ground now occupied by the vacant building where Sears department store had been located.
Elizabeth Holland, Merle Hay Mall’s owner, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
However, Holland has previously said that when Kohl’s originally approached Merle Hay about locating in the mall more than a decade ago, they wanted a spot that faced Merle Hay Road.
“I can tell you that when Kohl’s bought their store from me in 2008, they wanted to be on Merle Hay Road, so we’re hopeful they will achieve their wish,” Holland said during the September 2019 Iowa Commercial Real Estate Association Expo.
Holland, who was a keynote speaker at the expo, said if Kohl’s moved, there would be new opportunities to make changes to the west side of the mall, located on Merle Hay Road and Douglas Avenue.
In November, Holland announced that space previously occupied by the now-defunct Younkers department store would be transformed into a 3,500-seat multipurpose arena that will become the new home of the Des Moines Buccaneers hockey team. The proposed project would also include a 150-room hotel. The proposed master plan shows a hotel located on the northwest corner of the mall attached to the arena on what is now mostly surface parking.
Also in November, Holland purchased the former Sears property, located at 4000 Merle Hay Road. She has said the building would be razed and a strip center built on the land.
The proposed strip center would include 80,000 square feet of retail space in addition to about 55,000 square feet for the anchor tenant, according to the master plan.
In March 2019, the Des Moines City Council approved a development agreement with Holland that required her to develop a master plan for the mall property once the Sears land had been purchased. The master plan is required to address pedestrian connections, transit access and stormwater improvements for both the mall’s existing areas and new developments.
The proposed master plan includes two bus stops; currently there is one. Also proposed are several crosswalks across Merle Hay Road and Douglas Avenue.
The Urban Design Review Board will discuss the master plan in a virtual meeting at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. For information on how to listen to the meeting, click here.
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