In Mass., mall to be replaced by distribution center

Greendale Mall in Worcester could serve as the poster child for COVID-19’s acceleration of online shopping and demand for merchandise fulfillment services.

The new owners of the 309,000-sq.-ft. mall that opened in 1987 on Neponset Street in Central Massachusetts’ largest city has filed plans to demolish it and replace it with a 121,212-sq.-ft. distribution center.

When it acquired Greendale last year for $7.1 million, Finard Properties had plans for building a new mixed-use project on the site. Now, however, increased demand for product fulfillment moved the new owner to submit an application for the DC to the Worcester Planning Board....
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RSK: This is much different than re-purposing a mall. This is buying a location and using demolishing to get the land. Then build from ground up. It must be cost-effective to do so but modern-day distribution most likely does not fit well into an existing mall structure.

Ken Notes: I am surprised zoning will allow this. I do believe Amazon will enter this market with a blended distribution / order pickup "store" as it looks for a way to sell larger products. They will need an existing retail store that owns its buildings and has national coverage like Whole Foods did for grocery. JCPenney??? Kohls???????