A ghost of a mall
Remaining Cloverleaf Mall merchants are running out of time
By Katherine Peters CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Very few shoppers browse Cloverleaf Mall's storefronts these days.

Walking into Cloverleaf Mall these days resembles walking down the dusty street of an Old West ghost town. Most of the townspeople have left the dust behind them, but a tenacious few remain, holding out for official word that the mall town is dead.

Out of more than 60 shops, only about 15 remain open today. Clearance signs still welcome the mall's few shoppers since merchants don't know exactly when they must close their stores for good.

"They know that when it's time, they've got a window in which they have to move," said Deputy County Administrator Pete Stith, who currently doubles as the mall's manager.

Chesterfield already owns most of the mall building. Remaining tenants now pay rent directly to the county, and their lease lengths depend on when Chesterfield buys the land beneath their feet. Although the county purchased most of the actual building and land surrounding the mall in 2004, Millmar Partnership, LP still owns the land beneath Cloverleaf, the former sites of Hecht's and JCPenney and their parking lots.

Most of the remaining stores now run on month-to-month leases and can be told to move within two months, Stith said. Shoe City, DTLR and both Foot Lockers are currently negotiating their two-year lease agreements with the county.

But not everyone is prepared to leave.

One merchant, whose sole location is at Cloverleaf, has been at the mall for nearly 10 years. In spite of the clearance signs throughout the store, the business does not yet have a future location.

The Firestone and Bank of America locations outside the mall's doors still bring in enough customers to keep business moving, and they are not considering moving yet.

Another merchant told the Chesterfield Observer that her family-run business still has "another two years at least" before the mall closes completely.

County officials, however, say that two years is unfounded.

"Almost everything we've been giving them has been shorter than that," said Tom Jacobson, the county's director of revitalization. According to Jacobson, tenants have been told that their leases may extend into the Christmas season but not far beyond.

"[Two years is] not in our plans," Stith said. "It may be a little delayed but certainly won't be two years."

"We have held several meetings with the mall merchants to keep them informed. We've invited everybody," Jacobson continued. "We're trying to be as upfront as possible."

Various forms of red tape have held up the sale and conversion of Cloverleaf Mall since the county bought the 83-acre site three years ago. In addition to lease negotiations, the county must have the site rezoned for use by the new developer, Crosland, and navigate through a lawsuit by Millmar concerning the value of the land underneath the mall.

Still, Jacobson anticipates the county closing on the Millmar land by early next year. At such time, all tenants will have to make plans to move.

Crosland, a Charlotte, N.C. developer with extensive experience in redeveloping urban projects, is expected to tear down the mall shortly thereafter to make way for a new mixed-use development of residential, retail and office space called Chippenham Place. The project is expected to include 350 apartments, 100-150 condos and townhouses, 50-60 single-family homes and at least 200,000 square feet of retail space. Phase one of Chippenham Place will likely be anchored by a 115,000-square-foot Kroger.

The proposal will go before the planning commission on Sept. 18.

"We're making progress, it's just taking time," Jacobson said.