1. Lucas Garber ESC 753 – Midterm
Staten Island is slated to receive yet another shopping center. An abandoned industrial site
located in Rossville, just south of the Goethals Bridge, is the current location of a pair of giant,
rusted chemical storage tanks which Chaim Badad, the current owner of the property, has
plans to demolish allowing for the development of the property as a “... a Woodbury
Commons-type designer mall, business loop and big box store component, along with
community access to the waterfront” (Porpora “Site of LNG Tanks”). The tanks, which have
been an example of industrial blight for 40 years, were originally intended for the storage of
liquefied natural gas but never completed after a tragic explosion at a neighboring site site
cost the lives of 40 workers (“Rossville LNG Tanks”). The lack of use of this land means that
it is relatively clean and should be easy to reclaim for any number of uses. None of which
should be a mall, outlet stores or big box retailers.
The main issue is a simple economic truth: malls are on the decline (Rybczynski). With no
new malls being constructed in the United States since 2006, combined with the predictions
from Greenstreet Advisors that 15% of the currently existing malls in America will close down
within the next decade, the addition of a new mall to Staten Island seems like a terrible idea.
Other estimates (by Davidowitz & Associates inc, a retail consulting firm) state that within 20
years that half of the American malls will be closed, with malls containing only “anchor stores”
remaining (Peterson) These trends combined with the proximity of this site to an existing
mall, with (as evidenced by a recent visit) a high percentage of closed stores, closing stores
and newly opened stores (which are traditionally more likely to fail than established stores)
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2. Lucas Garber ESC 753 – Midterm
casts a serious doubt that the proposed mall would be a success.
The big box retail aspect has some initial appeal, but will ultimately provide little-to-no
economic benefit. While lower prices on consumer goods is usually a good draw to any
retailer there are already several big box stores such as Target, Old Navy, Home Depot and
Lowes on Richmond Ave, and in the Charleston area. By the time of completion, the Empire
Outlets in Saint George will also have been opened for a considerable time (their website
states a 2016 opening date). Competition against these existing stores is not a likely path to
success for a project such as this one. Additionally, big box stores tend to have a negative
impact on job growth, ultimately reducing the number of retail jobs available in an area
(Neumark et al. & Merriman et al.) since they strive for efficiency and low overhead (partially
achieved by a reduced staff size) and tend to run less successful competitors out of business.
If this site is simply transformed from an abandoned industrial site to a commercial site that
there is an overwhelmingly high probability that either this site will be abandoned, or other
existing sites will be abandoned in the near future. Delaying or transferring the blight and
economic downturn to adjacent neighborhoods will not produce the long-term economic
growth that organizations such as the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation, who
is pushing for the commercial development of sites such as this are aiming for (Porpora, “The
Last Frontier”). At best it will simply turn that portion of Staten Island into suburban sprawl,
much like our neighboring communities in New Jersey.
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3. Lucas Garber ESC 753 – Midterm
In my opinion, the better option would be to develop the land in a more mixed-use style:
incorporating retail, commercial and residential usage as well as greenspace in a mixed-use
fashion, rather than segregated sections. Mixed-use developments are currently back in
vogue and are seen as a post-recession answer to suburban sprawl and the ecological and
economic inefficiencies associated with modern zoning-based planning. These developments
also are less reliant on road access than malls or big box retailers, thus causing less traffic on
already overused and congested roads.
By integrating commercial, retail, service and residential spaces into single structures a
neighborhood instantly becomes “greener” with a higher walk score and thereby more
attractive to potential residents (walkscores are now being used by real estate agents). The
greenspace that is described in the plans is one of the few items I do not have any contention
with. The Greenspace could (and should) be incorporated into the mixed-use design since
converting brownfields into Greenspace is consistent with PlaNYC (New York City's resiliency
and sustainability blueprint) and has also shown promise as a best practice for urban renewal
(Kaufman et al & DeSousa).
There would also be space to build the first new high school on Staten Island since Staten
Island Technical High School was opened in 1988 (other than the highly competitive and low
population Petrides and the College of Staten Island's High School for International Studies)
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4. Lucas Garber ESC 753 – Midterm
and alleviating the overpopulation burden placed on Tottenville High School, which is currently
the only High school servicing that area. Since the land is currently zoned to only allow
manufacturing, a rezoning permit is needed. Part of the agreement for this permit should be
that a new high school (who's construction must be financed by the developers at this site) be
built.
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5. Lucas Garber ESC 753 – Midterm
Sidebar: The Rolling Acres Mall
Built in the mid 1970s the Rolling Acres Mall in Akron Ohio has been closed since 2008. The
closure of the mall was caused by the development of the surrounding area throught the
1990s and the mall's inability to compete in an oversaturated market. Starting in the 2000s
anchor stores began moving out, which is the death knell for a mall. By 2008 the mall had
closed. Since its closure the mall has traded hands, but has not been redeveloped. It is
currently sitting, decaying and rotting as it has been for the past 6 years and is taking the
neighboring businesses with it (a full history, complete with reactions from Akron residents is
available at http://deadmalls.com/malls/rolling_acres_mall.html).
Conclusion & Motivation
This fate, for either the Staten Island Mall or for the proposed mall in Rossville, is one that
Staten Island can ill afford. The sources I chose were ones that seemed logical and gave
credence to my claim that a mall should not be built on this land.
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6. Lucas Garber ESC 753 – Midterm
Sources:
1. Porpora, Tracy. “Site of LNG tanks in Rossville to be home to designer mall, movie theater, park” Silive.com 16 Mar. 2015. Web. 18 March
2015 <http://www.silive.com/southshore/index.ssf/2015/03/site_of_lng_tanks_in_rossville.html>
2. “The Rossville LNG tanks can't disappear soon enough” Editorial. Silive.com 7 Mar. 2015. Web. 18 march 2015
<http://www.silive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/03/the_rossville_lng_tanks_cant_d.html#incart_related_stories>
3. Rybczynski, Witold. "Arcades and Malls, Big Boxes and Lifestyle Centers."Makeshift Metropolis: Ideas about Cities. New York: Scribner,
2010. Print.
4. Peterson, Hayley. "America's Shopping Malls Are Dying A Slow, Ugly Death." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 31 Jan. 2014. Web. 18
Mar. 2015. <http://www.businessinsider.com/shopping­malls­are­going­extinct­2014­1>.
5. Neumark, David, Junfu Zhang, and Stephen Ciccarella. "The Effects Of Wal­Mart On Local Labor Markets."Journal of Urban Economics:
405­30. Print.
6. Merriman, D., J. Persky, J. Davis, and R. Baiman. "The Impact of an Urban WalMart Store on Area Businesses: The Chicago Case." Economic
Development Quarterly: 321­33. Print.
7. Porpora, Tracey “The Last Frontier: 10 sites on Staten Island targeted for development by SIEDC” Silive.com 29 Apr. 2014. Web. 18 Mar.
2015. <http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/10_sites_on_staten_islands_tar.html>
8. Kaufman, Dennis A., and Norman R. Cloutier. "The Impact of Small Brownfields and Greenspaces on Residential Property Values." The
Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics: 19­30. Print.
9. DeSousa, C. "Turning Brownfields Into Green Space In The City Of Toronto." Landscape and Urban Planning: 181­98. Print.
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