Tri-C deserves mad props. This mall was within a very short distance of two other malls, and not that far from KTC, but came out a winner. Traffic remains steady and we've seen new tenants sign on recently.

^I guess that's just a difference of opinion.  I think Bass Pro is a hick store that caters to a trashy clientel.  I've been in the Bass Pro at Forest Fair once, and the whole store seemed like the set of the Redneck Commedy Tour or something. No thanks...

 

Just a hater...I mean I am not into what BPS sells...but I have been in there and don't find it to be trashy at all.  In fact, for the sqftg. it seems well laid out and maintained.

 

But back to your language...if you are serious, is it really necessary?  At best you are just being childish and at worst you are stereotyping.  I mean really, if you said those things about gays, blacks or jews we would have to burn you at the stake. ;)

^I'm not judging the people that shop there, so saying it caters to a trashy clientele was wrong of me. I apologize if i offended anyone.  Delamere and Hopkins is a store that sells somewhat similar products, and it is an example of a classy store done right.  Bass Pro is basically a Walmart with guns, boats, and a few animal heads thrown on the wall for good measure.  I don't think I'm being overly harsh, especially with all the hate Walmart receives on this board.

Free standing Bass Pro's are actually pretty impressive. They look like giant lodges. So maybe that would help with the Wal-Mart vibe.

Put a knife in this mall and let Tri-County thrive again.  If Springdale got off their ass, maybe they could make the streetscape more attractive to lure tenants.  For one, they shouldn't have traffic lights strung across the road.  Clean it up with more aesthetically pleasing black traffic light poles.  Plant some trees, resurface the roads.  It would be very easy to make Tri-County the #2 shopping district in Cincinnati again.  Right now there isn't a #2, there are 6 or shopping districts all tied for 3rd.

"It seems weird there is no mall on the east end. (Harrison or Indiana)"

 

Did you mean west side?

 

Northgate Mall (despite the word "north") is where west-siders shop. In fact, Northgate Mall has a market area as far away as Oxford.

 

  For perspective, remember that the west side is less densly populated. Only 20% of the popluation of Hamilton County lives on the west side, and only 5% lives west of the Great Miami River.

 

Anyway, I just think it is sad that the mall on the list of one of the best on the Interstate 75 book now may be closing.

^I-75?

 

I cannot remember the exact name or title to the book, but it is a popular book (at least was a year or two ago) about the attractions and shopping along I-75. (close to I-75, though I know it is on I-275) Basically a book covering the best of from Detroit to Miami. The author put Cincinnati Mills (now mall) as the best mall on I-75. This was, I believe, a good seller at Barns n Nobles.

 

"It seems weird there is no mall on the east end. (Harrison or Indiana)"

 

Did you mean west side?

 

Northgate Mall (despite the word "north") is where pesticides shop. In fact, Northgate Mall has a market area as far away as Oxford.

 

  For perspective, remember that the west side is less densly populated. Only 20% of the population of Hamilton County lives on the west side, and only 5% lives west of the Great Miami River.

 

 

The west side, yes, thankyou, that is what I meant.  Thankyou for the information on population percentages.

 

I had kind of forgotten about Northgate. Still, what is the travel time between there and Dearborn county (Lawranceburg)? Does anyone know the stats on the SE corner of Indiana as for as population counts go? It seems that it could be 40,000 to 50,000 area wide, couldn't it? If so, it would seem if communities that are half that size support a mall, they could too. But hey, if its just minutes away, maybe we will just stick to Northgate.

 

Thanks for the info.

Cincinnati Mall works on debt plan

By Rob Dowdy, Cincinnati Enquirer, April 22, 2010

 

Cincinnati Mall has long struggled to fill its space with shops and keep up with debts owed to Forest Park and Winton Woods City School District, but its new owners are looking to correct those issues.

 

Forest Park Financial Director Harlita Robinson said the mall currently owes the city late annual assessments, which were charged to the mall in lieu of taxes due to tax abatements that were granted during the mall's recent $70 million renovation. The assessments total $1.2 million for 2008 and $1.3 million for 2009.

 

^ from the article...

 

"Demetriades said World Properties has worked out a payment schedule with the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority to pay back the taxes owed to Forest Park and Winton Woods school district."

 

What does this mean?  The Port Authority is subsidizing the mall for the property taxes owed to the 2 local school districts?

 

^ from the article...

 

"Demetriades said World Properties has worked out a payment schedule with the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority to pay back the taxes owed to Forest Park and Winton Woods school district."

 

What does this mean? The Port Authority is subsidizing the mall for the property taxes owed to the 2 local school districts?

 

 

I would assume it has something to do with TIF but I don't know any of the particulars of the project.

The Port Authority, along with others, helped finance the TIF when Mills Corp. renovated Forest Fair into Cincinnati Mills. The Mills went kaput, Simon properties purchased it and did not make any payments. Simon was only there to take whatever 'outlet' tenants it had and shuttle them to the Monroe Premium Outlets. Then it was sold...

I would assume it has something to do with TIF but I don't know any of the particulars of the project.

 

Ok, what does TIF stand for again?

 

I realize that the various Port Authorities create bonds to raise revenue, so they don't technically use taxpayer money.

 

^Tax-increment financing. It helped fund improvements to the mall back under the Mills Corp. ownership.

^ Thanks....I have much to learn about public and quasi-public financing.

Gosh, where do I even begin...

 

I plan to get into this in more detail later in a separate thread (and possibly get a huge Forest Fair Mall project off the ground if I can ever find the time), but I'll try to sum this up.

 

This place, to this day, is still magical. And though it is a shell of it's former self, as it slowly dies I still walk this mall and remember.....

 

Growing up there was not a single Sunday that I didn't travel with my parents here. We'd have our usual stops, Bigg's, Gold Star Chili, etc...

 

I bought my first video game magazine at the Electronics Boutique, I have so many great memories of seeing movies with my Dad at the then Super Saver Cinemas, for only .50 cents!

 

But the real excitement for me, was spendings HOURS in TimeOut on the Court.

 

This place was a paradise! Even now, when I walk past the area where they walled it up, I just stare into space at what used to be. I'm sure I look like a psycho on the security monitor.

 

I would absolutely LOVE anyone to post their images they may have of this Mall.

 

Have an old birthday snap when you were 10 and you can see the mall in the background? POST IT! Have a class field trip or business outing shot there? POST IT! Picture of an old girlfriend/boyfriend leaning against the Super Saver Cinemas ticket booth? POST IT!

 

Here's some great shots of the Arcade I found. I have more where this came from...

 

 

NOTE:

 

Don't forget. You have to be logged in to view the images that are attached! Otherwise they wont show up.

Wow thank you for posting those!! I remember the mall exactly how it looks in those pictures.  The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle mini golf course, the red and blue flashing lights of the super savers, the lazer tag course, etc.  I used to go there on rainy days with my babysitter in the summer and it was always such a cool place as a kid.  Please post more!

All that cool stuff was ridiculously expensive to install and maintain, though. It's tough to make money off of that stuff 50 cents at a time.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle mini golf course, the red and blue flashing lights of the super savers, the lazer tag course

 

LoL, I can't believe you remember the mini golf was TMNT. I SO remember that! I played a game there with my cousin once and noticed they had really cool TMNT sticks at the end when you left the course.

 

And those blue and red blinking lights....I can still see them. Entering there (and the light tunnel that led you down to the theaters) was always an indication that something awesome was about to happen.

 

More images for yah. Again, I encourage anyone with ANY shots taken in or around the mall to please scan and post. Even the slightest, most insignificant snap shot can make all the difference here.

 

I have some more shots of inside the Arcade itself and a few others.....and one really AWESOME shot that everyone will love to see...but I'm saving this one for later  :yap:

 

 

NOTE:

 

Don't forget. You have to be logged in to view the images that are attached! Otherwise they wont show up.

These are awesome pictures. They bring back so many memories. I think I have some old pics somewhere but my scanner is currently not working. I would like to visit the mall soon as the last time I was there was early 2009

Here is the last handful of pictures of the Time-Out section I have. Most take us inside the arcade. This was taken' during the period of the late 90's (probably 99 just before its close) so it doesn't really do the arcade justice to how I remember it. It used to be packed with tons more games and people. Oh well, at least Santa looks like he's enjoying himself!

 

I also had a picture of the old "Ball" exhibit that used to occupy the space where the ferris wheel was.

 

I'm kicking myself because It looks like I no longer have it. It shows the exhibit sitting there and workers on scaffolding installing the light bulbs in the giant Time-Out sign that hangs over it when the mall was first opening.

 

Oh well...coming soon...a "Moore's Fitness" commercial from Forest Fair Mall! (if you look closely at one of the above pictures, you can see it in the background...)

 

NOTE:

 

Don't forget. You have to be logged in to view the images that are attached! Otherwise they wont show up.

More great pictures. Yeah Santa looks like he is having a ball. THat arcade really was the best. Wish it was still there.

Ahh, '90s digital pix. My avatar was taken in 1997 on a digital camera that my high school owned. It held 7 pictures.

Moore's Fitness commercial from 1998 when they first opened in the mall above Time-Out. Man do I miss that old theme music! It was awesome. As soon as you heard it, you instantly new it was the 90's :-D:

 

1998 - Commercial - Moore's Super Fitness - 1-800-MOORES-24 - $10 Special

Wow what a great clip. Love the music and the workout clothes. wonder if there are any more videos from Forest Fair mall on the web anywhere

Thanks for mailing me those pictures of the mall cher12. Those pictures were AMAZING! The two of the Time-Out area from the 2nd floor were unbelievable. You even had it from back before they put the Ferris Wheel in and the directory was pre-93. WOW!

 

I'm still looking for someone to have some more pictures in and around the arcade (and just of the 1st floor in general). Most of the pics I find are from upstairs so I suppose the first floor images are the "Holly Grail" of this project at this point!

 

Thanks again!

You are welcome. I hope they are of some help to you. I know some of them were kind of dark. I can still look at those older pics and remember the first time I went into that mall - it was so amazing

I will continue to look for the other photos I thought I had as well as any articles I might have clipped.

Hope others can find some old photos

Good luck on the project

I just visited Cincinnati Mall (its new name) this past weekend. It was not a planned trip so I didnt have my camera and my friend wasnt really in the mood to roam around the mall much. Its a pretty sad place right now. The whole Biggs area is closed to everyone. There was some sort of play area for kids still there. So many closed stores it was scary.There were a few escalators that were closed down and had caution tape around them. I wanted to go up them but my friend was afraid security would come and get us.  I honestly didnt see any security anywhere

It was really sad as I have so many memories of this mall and hope its not torn down for a Walmart or something similar.

Also has anyone heard any recent news on the mall - plans of what the new owner is going to do with it. Hope it can be saved

^Agreed.  Also, they put this right between the already successful Tricounty and Northgate malls.  How many malls can one area support?

Well, obviously just demoing such a nice, structurally sound location makes no sense economically or productivity wise. Whether this remains a retail location or is converted into some kind of office space, it still has huge potential. I even heard of turning it into indoor condos at one point (which I thought would have been awesome)! Imagine living in a mall! Anyway, that was just a rumor.

 

The previous owners purchased it with the false intentions of flipping it. Really, what they wanted to do is resell it for a profit, which they did. They had no intention of paying the back taxes which is holding up the mall's progress.

 

This new company says they have every intention of working out a deal with the city on the taxes and trying to make the mall more appealing to merchants and bring back retail shops to the mall. It sounds like they are not giving up on it just yet...but that could just be wishful thinking.

Yeah I hope they can bring something back to the mall. They should keep Bass Pro shops if possible cause it seems to draw alot of customers. But they do need to try something different that the other malls dont have. I am with you - its probably just wishful thinking but we can hope

Things are getting slower at Tri-County as well -- lots more vacancy than even two years ago. Haven't been to Northgate in a while.

I don't really see a future for that site as a mall. It's just too close to two other malls, the three seem to constantly be strangling one another, since all three of them at one point or another have had their troubles. It was just poor planning - how can you expect two malls to succeed when they're only a couple miles apart, in a region where a couple miles means nothing. I dunno, I think it should probably just be demoed and the site reused as something else. I can't see a large indoor mall building being effectively reused or rebuilt as residences or offices.

I don't really see a future for that site as a mall. It's just too close to two other malls, the three seem to constantly be strangling one another, since all three of them at one point or another have had their troubles. It was just poor planning - how can you expect two malls to succeed when they're only a couple miles apart, in a region where a couple miles means nothing. I dunno, I think it should probably just be demoed and the site reused as something else. I can't see a large indoor mall building being effectively reused or rebuilt as residences or offices.

 

I agree... there's not many options for that area aside from trashing the building and starting over, really. The place is too big to do much with. Offices and residences don't seem to jive as you'd most likely have to do tons of internal renovation to make it practical for such uses. You have to think Forest Park would love to just start that area over with a blank slate. As it stands now it is pretty much just Bass Pro Shop and 50 acres of parking lot and blight.

 

Sucks.... I remember that indoor sandbox/beach being pretty awesome when I was a kid. Timeout was also one of the best arcades in Cincinnati at the time.

The mall is beyond the point of no return.  It's time for the owners to start reading "Retrofitting Suburbia" for ideas on how to reconfigure the site.  Also I'd hope the Old Spaghetti Factory can return to some historic downtown storefront. 

Also I'd hope the Old Spaghetti Factory can return to some historic downtown storefront. 

 

Yes, please!

Thumbs up on the old Forest Fair Mall pictures.

 

I've been really quite curious about Forest Fair Mall (I started a thread on City-Data on it!)

 

I don't quite know where Sakowitz was, I'm not sure on the layout of the Festivals at Forest Fair, and there might have Linens N Things and Marshalls in the beginning, but I'd like to find out!

Cincinnati Mall announces redevelopment

Enquirer staff reports • January 17, 2011

 

 

The Cincinnati Mall in Fairfield announced on Monday that it will add a Candlewood Suites extend stay hotel, ice rink, amusement center, dining and other entertainment services as part of a redevelopment plan.

 

The mall, which currently is a retail center featuring stores such as Bass Pro Shops, Kohl's, Burlington Coat Factory, and Babie R Us, wants to become a family destination.

 

Cont

Not entirely convinced that a hotel and an ice rink is exactly what they need to stop the blight.... not really sure that anything is going to make that lot profitable.

I chuckled when I heard this on the news. I guess the mall is in desperation mode now. I highly doubt the hotel and ice rink will make a significant difference in business. I can't fathom the logic behind building a mall that close to an already profitable mall. That place was doomed from the jump.

I just hope the mall concept at this site dies.  The Tri-County area is just starting to bounce back.

Yeah I am not sure if the ice rink and hotel will bring much more business to the mall either unless they figure people staying in the motel may want or need something out of the remaining stores.

I chuckled when I heard this on the news. I guess the mall is in desperation mode now. I highly doubt the hotel and ice rink will make a significant difference in business. I can't fathom the logic behind building a mall that close to an already profitable mall. That place was doomed from the jump.

 

Oh man, you missed Forest Fair back in the day...it was by far the best mall for kids. Ill-conceived, yes. But for a few years that place was like a huge carnival/video arcade/fun crazy color world...with lasertag, rides, games, 50 cent movies, virtual reality demos.......it was special!

Once Bigg's left the decline went down more rapidly. Bigg's used to be special but no longer. Too many Walmarts.

I've always thought that America's desolate malls, and Forest Fair in particular due to it's proximity to a hospital and nice interior courtyards, would make great retirement villages.

 

You could build apartments in the retail areas, and mid-rise towers in the parking lots to increase density, to increase income and support a scaled down and specific retail tenant mix that not only provides for those tenants on-site, but their visitors as well. The food court and entertainment areas like the arcades and theater could be re-concepted for their new market-specific client.  One of the larger retail locations could become an in-house medical facility for minor issues and staging areas for transport of larger ones.

 

The entire site could be fenced/landscaped in very nicely, which would make for some great outdoor spaces....maybe a few golfing areas too????  The common areas that aren't built out into apartments can provide a fantastic year-round gathering space for activities, exercise and community events.  The whole concept allows for that feeling of safety, yet autonomy, that many seniors desire. I bet more people would visit their older relatives if "retirement homes" were more like this!!!

 

Okay, whose got about $50 million I can borrow?

 

 

http://shoppingmallmuseum.blogspot.com/search/label/Cincinnati%27s%20Forest%20Fair%20Fiasco

 

Just stumbled across this today. It has a lot of good info and a few old pics.

More detail: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110127/BIZ01/301270104/Ambitious-plans-for-Cincinnati-Mall

 

The New York mall owner suggested space at the region’s largest indoor mall, which is about two-thirds vacant, could become a three-story hotel, a 100,000-square-foot hockey arena, a 76,000-square-foot agriculture museum, a water park or one of the nation’s only indoor mountain bike parks.

 

No funding is in place for any of the plans.

 

“The mall hasn’t done as well as it could even with a bigger name like (Mills Corp.) and (Simon Property Group). It still has struggled,” said Karla Ellsworth, who was appointed general manager in December. “Keeping it retail would be a hard task.”

 

Ellsworth appeared Thursday before Fairfield and Forest Park city officials to present early plans of mall owner Cincinnati Holding Co. LLC. She was joined by the company’s principal, Alex Demetriades.

 

Demetriades took ownership of the property last March, paying just under $6 million for the 1.5 million-square-foot center. In 2002, Mills Corp. paid about $52 million for the property. The property has changed hands twice since.

 

Ellsworth said she’d spent the last six weeks in negotiations with several different national and local groups interested in locating entertainment concepts in the mall. A hockey arena could take nearly half of the old bigg’s store, she said.

 

A hotel operator could open a 170,000-square-foot Candlewood Suites in space formerly occupied by Steve & Barry’s. That project would require two stories be added to the structure.

 

A local mountain bike race promoter has proposed plans for the indoor park. And a Fairfield group likes the idea of a museum dedicated to early agriculture.

 

What the heck would a "76,000-square-foot agriculture museum" look like there?!  :?

I have been consistently amazed by the recurring plans to add space to the mall. Media Play, Babies R Us, and Showcase Cinema all added square footage to a mall that was widely considered to be too big before their additions. Now a new owner is considering adding 2 floors to a portion of the mall?!?

Cincinnati Mall details vision

ENQUIRER STAFF REPORTS • JANUARY 27, 2011

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The general manager of Cincinnati Mall on Thursday presented the latest redevelopment plan for the property, which has struggled to retain tenants in recent years.

 

More below:

www.cincinnatienquirer.com

The Cincinnati Mall

Posted by Sherman Cahal • January 28, 2011

 

When people speak about dying downtowns and the declining inner ring of suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio many raise their hands in sweeping motions, indicate the vast empty stretches of sidewalks null with pedestrians and the boarded up galleries, and speak of the good ol' times of the 1950s and 1960s.

 

"Downtown is dead."

 

"Crime is rampant."

 

Those are two of the most repeated comments expressed when someone mentions the progress that is going on in the inner city. But they rarely mention the failure in the outer suburbs. Besides the rusting hulk of Kenwood Towne Place along Interstate 71 in Columbia Township, there is the mammoth 1.5-million square-foot Cincinnati Mall, which has essentially been a failure since its inception in July 1988.

 

More after the jump: http://www.abandonedonline.net/2011/01/28/the-cincinnati-mall/