There is an article in the Dallas Morning News about how the city of Dallas is considering investing in a redevelopment of a mall in Southwest Dallas known as Red Bird Mall. Its an area similar to Crossroads Mall in that it has been declining for decades to the point where the mall has lost its major tennants and is nearly empty.

With all the fighting back and forth about MAPS and how some people feel MAPS is only lining the pockets of developers, how do you feel about Dallas investing in such a project? What if OKC wanted to work with developers ina public/private partnership using public money to redevelop Crossroads?

I would be against it because it would lower the wages of fire fighters and exacerbate their problem of being understaffed. Oh wait... that doesn't make and since.

I think some form of public private partnership might be the only way to turn that project back into something. The private sector is not going to go their on its own momentum. Private money on its own has been looking a mile or two west and a mile or three south, and apparently doing quite well with those decisions. It may well already be too late for CRM to return as retail.

It was more a rhetorical question since there are those on here that think MAPS money for anything is inherently evil - only to see our neighbor to the south holding hands with developers to rehabilitate an old mall site. Some thing Dallas can do no wrong while OKC is just inferior to anywhere and everywhere.

Oh, and I understand the animal control department is understaffed so I voted no on MAPS.

Wow, I can't believe Red Bird Mall is still around, period. Back in the late 90s my sister taught school in Duncanville, TX where the mall is located and even then it was definitely not the mall to go to. When she moved to the area, her fellow teachers advised her to do her shopping at The Parks mall in Arlington and that IF she had to go to Red Bird, don't go after dark or on a weekend and don't go alone. The mall had pretty much become overrun with large groups of teenagers that would harrass other shoppers. The mall had actually been renamed around that time, to Southwest Center Mall, because people had started referring to it as Black Bird Mall. Apparently they thought renaming it to get away from the nickname would draw the white folks back. We went there a couple of times and I remember thinking what a shame it was that the mall had deteriorated so much. The layout of the mall was very similar to Crossroads but most of the stores were locally owned & had a fairly limited clientele. For instance, there were lots of stores that sold African tribal style garments & brightly colored men's suits. A mall can't sustain itself solely on stores that don't have a fairly broad appeal.

So, would you favor spending city tax money on a public/private partnership with a developer to redo the Crossroads Mall area the way Dallas is proposing for the Red Bird/Southwest Mall?

Before saying yes or no to that question, I'd want to see more of an outline of what the partnership would be planning. What's the redevelopment plan for Red Bird? I could probably get behind something that would favor keeping the mall, renovating it & breathing new life into it. Not sure I'd be as supportive if the redevelopment plan was to tear it down completely & turn it into yet another strip center. I do think though that with a partnership like that, good things could happen while still keeping it a mall at heart.

While a public/private partnership might be great for the mall owner - I don't see how that will benefit the city as much. I wouldn't be in favor of it. Public money should be spent to steer development in directions that the private sector wouldn't go on their own (i.e. Bricktown when it was just abandonded warehouses or the blighted area that will become a new central park). The private sector all ready tried with Crossroads and it didn't work.

It depends. There would be a lot of factors at work. I'd have to see some evidence that the mall would be sustainable afterwards. No point in a heavy public investment if it's just going to start deteriorating again.

Perhaps Crossroads is where our future NFL stadium should go. :)

Perhaps Crossroads is where our future NFL stadium should go. :)

If only we could attract and support an NFL team, that would be cool.

Perhaps Crossroads is where our future NFL stadium should go. :)

I would prefer any new stadium be downtown. Crossroads will never be a viable shopping center again.

OK County passed a vote to conduct a bond issue and buy the old GM plant, then leased it back to Tinker. Worked out to be a great plan.

But there would need to be a similar, specific purpose for Crossroads and I can't imagine what that would be.

A ton of money would have to be invested to make decent retail viable at that site and even then it probably wouldn't work.

I would prefer any new stadium be downtown. Crossroads will never be a viable shopping center again.

why such a defeatist attitude?

why such a defeatist attitude?

It seems there are far too many newer shopping centers that are closer to population centers to prevent Crossroads from being a functional mall any more. Not only would Crossroads need to be cleaned up but the surrounding area would also need a good scrubbing. Having a dump, literally, down the street doesn't help either. What anchors would even consider going back into Crossroads?

Until the I-35/240 interchange is rebuilt there probably isn't anything that can be done with this site.

Well I think since I support the Federal Stimulus, and have my doubts about the City's stimulus (MAPS3).
I wondered when those who opposed the Federal, why are they not also against MAPS3.

Well I think since I support the Federal Stimulus, and have my doubts about the City's stimulus (MAPS3).
I wondered when those who opposed the Federal, why are they not also against MAPS3.

It comes down to the difference in roles between federal and local government.

Why would it need to be retail?