Library decision may put more pressure on Westdale Mall

CEDAR RAPIDS-- The Cedar Rapids Public Library will start saying “goodbye” to Westdale Mall as early as December.

And that decision has raised new questions about the fate of the struggling shopping center.

Board members in a meeting Wednesday night opted to move the west-side branch to an empty storefront across Williams Boulevard NW from Westdale.

The location is a former Target store.  The section that will house the new library branch location was most recently occupied by Stuff, Etc.

Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle Capital Markets, which took over management and leasing of Westdale in mid-2010, recently re-listed the mall property for sale.  No one connected with the commercial brokerage company returned a call Thursday for comment about the library decision.

The recent sale listing put the occupancy of the mall at 53.6 percent.  Commercial realtors in Cedar Rapids estimated the loss of the leased space for the library will probably drop that occupancy figure to the mid-40 percent range.

The library won't fully leave the mall right away.  Public spaces, like the book collection and computer terminal area, will go to the new branch location when it's ready. But some services, such as book processing and administrative offices, will stay in mall space until the new downtown main library opens.  That will probably happen sometime in mid 2013.

Amber Mussman, a spokeswoman for the Cedar Rapids Public Library, said there are good reasons not to move everything at Westdale now to the new branch location.

“We want to make sure we're not moving things unnecessarily.  The space we're leasing at the old Stuff (Etc.) location is not big enough to hold all of the office space we need,” Mussman said.

Some library patrons said Thursday they were concerned about Westdale's future.

“It attracts people to come and it's probably been good for the mall.  It might be detrimental when they move out,” Jennifer Hayes said of the library.

Scott Olson, a Cedar Rapids city council member and commercial Realtor, believes plans for a sale to local owners coupled with a mall makeover may be more likely now.

Olson was involved with a group that submitted a bid to the current mall owners last year.  He said ideas have included converting the traditional mall space into more of a “lifestyle” center with clusters of retailers and nearby parking.  That could mean consolidating retailers and razing part of the property for redevelopment.

Olson said ideas have included more retail development on the edge of the mall property and a conversion of some of the space to housing or office uses.

Whatever happens, Olson said he believes it may need to happen fairly soon.

“If I were a tenant in that mall, I'd be tired of waiting for somebody who's going to do something.  So there are not many more chances this current owner has or they will see substantial or continued vacancies,” Olson said.

Five years ago, the city of Cedar Rapids got more directly involved in an effort to do something to help the mall recover. Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett said the city probably isn't interested in leading renewal efforts now.  But he said the city does expect to get involved in assisting any new buyer.

“The city is willing to partner with whoever the owners are.  The property right now is for sale and they obviously haven't been able to sell it so maybe the asking price is too high,” Corbett said.