max.bowen@northstarreporter.com
State Rep. Adam Scanlon (D-North Attleborough) has filed a bill with a goal of breathing new life into the Emerald Square Mall.
The bill, filed with the House of Representatives in January, would incentivize mall owners to fill it with new retail tenants, put it to other uses, or allow another owner to do so.
“The Emerald Square Mall is clearly struggling. I remember going there as a kid when it was a bustling center of retail and other business. Now it feels like a ghost town, even over the holidays,” said Scanlon in a statement on Feb. 19. “This has led to its falling into a state of disrepair, which has even involved some safety issues recently. We need to reinvigorate this structure, and get it either filled up with tenants or converted to other uses. If the current owners can’t accomplish this, they should move out of the way and let someone else step in. That’s why I filed this bill to provide for these options.”
HD.3135, An Act relative to shopping malls, would give cities and towns the option to use property taxes to incentivize mall owners to recruit new tenants for their vacant spaces.
Municipalities would be permitted to collect a property tax, at a rate determined by the municipality, on malls with less than a 67% occupancy rate for a continuous period of nine months. This would incentivize mall owners to either fill their retail spaces or convert some portion of the property to other uses with the approval of the municipality, such as residential or office spaces.
The Emerald Square Mall has seen vacancy rates of greater than 50% for the past few years, rising to almost 65% during some periods, according to Scanlon’s announcement.
Recently, water leaks at the mall set off fire alarms and affected light fixtures and restrooms, leading to a temporary closure while the roof was repaired and a safety walkthrough was conducted. Last week, some shoppers were trapped in an elevator and had to be rescued by firefighters.
In recent years, town officials have considered other uses for the mall space. Two years ago, the town explored a proposal to convert the mall to other uses, including residential.
“Look, we have this massive structure in North Attleborough that used to be a regional draw for shopping and recreation. Now, it’s almost empty. We also have a housing crisis in Massachusetts, despite the work done to address it at the state level in the past few years. If the current owners can’t attract new retail tenants, they should sell and let someone else try to do so, or work with the town to convert it to residential or office space,” said Scanlon. “Many cities are working on these sorts of conversions to address empty business space and our housing shortage at the same time. We can’t let this kind of building and infrastructure go to waste any more years.”
