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Thread: Replacing Eastern Hills Mall

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    Replacing Eastern Hills Mall

    Saw the article in the shoe shine rag about the plan for the village center to replace Eastern Hills. It’s going to be built out in sections as market demand warrants. It’s a seven to ten year plan. In other words, no one has any real faith in the thing or its viability in western New York. It will never be completed....count on it.

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    Tony Fracasso - Admin
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    We do a mall walk and cruise through the antique market at the Eastern Hills. I was surprised at the condition of the parking lot. It's sad to see so much decay and change in a short period of time.

    Same goes remember the old Como Mall, McKinley Mall and so on.

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    Member FMD's Avatar
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    Amazon and the like are killing malls. Its interesting, we seem to live in a 'i want it NOW, TODAY' world, yet people are willing to wait 2 days for shipping. Vs go to the store, buy it, bring it home and, if it doesnt work, doesnt take a WEEK to get a new one.

    Plus many stores offer online price match, most notably is best buy... (I buy A LOT of **** from them... lol Rather pay today with cash and have today... and, if it doesnt work, I take it back today, and get a new one, today. A 1 week endeavor(atleast) with online stuff.
    Willful ignorance is the downfall of every major empire in history.

    "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." - Mao, 1938

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    Agreed...can't wait for 2 days for a shirt I need tonight, a mower part I needed yesterday, or a wide shoe that isn't wide unless I tried it on...
    Like vinyl records, stores will rise again..
    Last edited by metal god; March 21st, 2019 at 10:59 PM. Reason: spelling

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    There’s enough retail left for our dwindling population, hope the plan works, maybe NY can throw a few hundred million at the project to ensure it tanks

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    Member leftWNYbecauseofBS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by grump View Post
    Saw the article in the shoe shine rag about the plan for the village center to replace Eastern Hills. It’s going to be built out in sections as market demand warrants. It’s a seven to ten-year plan. In other words, no one has any real faith in the thing or its viability in western New York. It will never be completed....count on it.

    I think it has a good chance of being successful. I mean it is located in a good part of WNY. It's close to the Village which is doing well. It would be zoned for Clarence schools which are very good. I think if the roll it out right and focus on good tenants, it can find success.

    For example, near where I live is a lifestyle center. Much smaller in scale but the idea is the same. The leasing agent has done a horrible job of tenants. There are a couple of nice restaurants but they are mixed in with a Subway and H&R Block. A litter further away is another lifestyle center. They did a much better job of leasing there and focused on restaurants and avoided fast food and services like tax prep. My wife and I go here often. When we want to go to dinner we go there and then walk around to see which restaurant has open tables. Back to Eastern Hills, I think they can steal a couple of good stores and restaurants from around the area. So this project will be successful but some other strip malls might take a hit.

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    Leftie, I visited one in a southern city that shall remain nameless. It was well done but I immediately had serious concerns about the viability of it in an area like ours with our weather. Besides, attracting businesses from elsewhere in the area to relocate is not quite what this area needs. We’ve been rearranging deck chairs on this Titanic for 50 years. We need growth, not another shifting things in the mirrors. And in another “emperor’s new clothes” moment the other day we learned that all the crap we’re constantly fed about young people flocking to the area is just that, crap, and that the average age here is well over 40, among the highest in the state, and getting higher as people continue to flee. People might move in but it’s not growth it’s reshuffling. Unlike where you are and where I visited, where “lifestyle” centers are a response to growth and not a generator of it.

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    For better, or for worse. Good or bad. I just do not think WNY is yet prepared to host a so-called "lifestyle center." WS is (slowly) moving ahead with theirs. It is (by far) the most tangible progress toward such a thing in the area. We shall see.

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    Member leftWNYbecauseofBS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Member 2358 View Post
    For better, or for worse. Good or bad. I just do not think WNY is yet prepared to host a so-called "lifestyle center." WS is (slowly) moving ahead with theirs. It is (by far) the most tangible progress toward such a thing in the area. We shall see.

    And why is that? Lifestyle centers are just a different take on Villages. They are essentially artificial villages designed to have a small % of people living within walking distance and a larger % of people driving and parking to visit. These lifestyle centers are not going to really change the number of people who go out to eat or shop in the region. They just change where and how they do it.


    I think this center is going to be super successful. That said, I think it's going to drain from all of the various shopping plazas on Transit Road and the general area. It will be robbing Peter to pay Paul but Peter is gonna do just fine.

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    Quote Originally Posted by leftWNYbecauseofBS View Post
    And why is that? Lifestyle centers are just a different take on Villages. They are essentially artificial villages designed to have a small % of people living within walking distance and a larger % of people driving and parking to visit. These lifestyle centers are not going to really change the number of people who go out to eat or shop in the region. They just change where and how they do it.


    I think this center is going to be super successful. That said, I think it's going to drain from all of the various shopping plazas on Transit Road and the general area. It will be robbing Peter to pay Paul but Peter is gonna do just fine.
    LOL. If I knew the root of 'why is that', I'd be the king of the world... LOLOL. I know what llifestyle centers are. I'm all for the concept. Fact is those that have tried (in WNY so far) have been grossly unsuccssful. WS is at the forfront now. I have a suspicion they will move the entire concept forward - pave the way, if you will - in the region. Fingers crossed.

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    Leftie, if it doesn’t change the number of people who go out to shop then the retail in the artificial village is gonna sufffer just like traditional retail at the hands of the Internet. And shifting things isn’t improving them. So this is gonna lead to more empty retail space? Just what we need. And based on my admittedly limited experience it seems to me that this area lacks the economic base to support the higher end retail that I saw in the one I visited. As I said, the growth proceeded the development of such centers, not the other way around. It’s hardly a victory or a positive step forward for the area to implement an economic idea that merely beggars others in the area.

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    Member leftWNYbecauseofBS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by grump View Post
    Leftie, if it doesn’t change the number of people who go out to shop then the retail in the artificial village is gonna sufffer just like traditional retail at the hands of the Internet. And shifting things isn’t improving them. So this is gonna lead to more empty retail space? Just what we need. And based on my admittedly limited experience it seems to me that this area lacks the economic base to support the higher end retail that I saw in the one I visited. As I said, the growth proceeded the development of such centers, not the other way around. It’s hardly a victory or a positive step forward for the area to implement an economic idea that merely beggars others in the area.

    That's where we disagree. I get the logic but there is around 100,000 people in very close proximity to this location. I don't think shopping is going to be the focus here. I think the focus is going to be food, drink and entertainment. By and large there is very, very, very little to do in this area. Williamsville has a great little vibe but parking is difficult. Way too many residents with a good amount of disposable income are forced to drive into parts of the city for a 'night out'. All this is is an artificial Elmwood 'Village' without the uppity neighbors. That's it. It's a place where a couple or a family can go to 'for dinner' and then figure out what restaurant when they get there. Everything else is just too far apart.


    Where you're right is there is not enough people in the area to support this without hurting other established places. Already said that. But that's not the problem of the developers here.

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    Leftie, there will be plenty of uppity neighbors there. That you can take to the bank. It’s Clarence! Of course, the reason there’s no parking in the village of Williamsville is because Kulpa and the “planners” used buzz words like “walkable communities” to keep outsiders out, especially certain types of outsiders. Same will apply in the artificial “village”, they won’t want “those types” eating in “their” artificial village either. That you can take to the bank too. This area isn’t everywhere else.

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    Anyone know where the three nearest (to Buffalo, NY) "lifestyle centers" are located (and what they are named)??

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    Member leftWNYbecauseofBS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by grump View Post
    Leftie, there will be plenty of uppity neighbors there. That you can take to the bank. It’s Clarence! Of course, the reason there’s no parking in the village of Williamsville is because Kulpa and the “planners” used buzz words like “walkable communities” to keep outsiders out, especially certain types of outsiders. Same will apply in the artificial “village”, they won’t want “those types” eating in “their” artificial village either. That you can take to the bank too. This area isn’t everywhere else.
    I know you have an itch with Kulpa but I think you're wrong on the parking. Just where do you expect parking to go? If Kulpa said let's build parking, where do you put a surface lot? What do you demo?

    Quote Originally Posted by Member 2358 View Post
    Anyone know where the three nearest (to Buffalo, NY) "lifestyle centers" are located (and what they are named)??
    Crocker Park is in Ohio. https://www.crockerpark.com/ I think that's outside of Cleveland.

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