MOLINE, Ill. — The latest ideas to redevelop Davenport's NorthPark Mall include demolishing the wing near Von Maur and replacing it with homes and apartments. The Davenport City Council will vote to accept a report examining those ideas during their meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 14. City officials said council members and mall stakeholders will then work together to solidify the details.
But across the river in Moline, it's a different story. Inside SouthPark Mall, David Cahoon has run Exotic Imports for more than 30 years. He's watched shopping habits change and seen big retailers come and go.
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to go out and see that there may be more unoccupied stores than occupied stores," Cahoon said.
Even so, he's still optimistic about the mall's future.
"I'd like to see the city come together with Macerich as well as the community and the tenants and all of us work together to come to 'where do we go from here?'" Cahoon said.
However, that might not be in the cards just yet. Since she took office in 2021, Rayapati said she's been trying to get Macerich to redevelop the property.
"Our staff has continued to engage with representatives with Macerich to bring them back to the table," Rayapati said. "None of our ideas we shared early on in 2021 went anywhere with mall ownership."
Ideas like new housing and recreational spaces were included in the study that Davenport commissioned for NorthPark Mall.
"Those same ideas for housing and redeveloping the whole are were the kinds of things we talked about," Rayapati said.
Even as talks with the company continue, Rayapati believes Macerich will allow SouthPark to become a so-called "zombie mall." That's when a community buys a struggling mall and tries to redevelop the property themselves.
"But that is not an option at this time," Rayapati said.
Cahoon has a few ideas of his own, such as adding dedicated spaces for entertainment and live music and short-term pop-up shops from local vendors.
"That would bring us to the idea of bringing more online sales, offline into traditional circumstances," Cahoon said.
With the movement at NorthPark Mall, Cahoon said he's confident SouthPark will get its turn, too.
"I'm persistent because I believe there is going to be development, there is going to be something," he said.