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    Eastland Mall Declared a Public Nuisance

    The Columbus City Attorney’s office formally declared the Eastland Mall as a public nuisance today, after months of neglect have yet to be remedied by the property owner. Citations against the mall include health and safety hazards such as inadequate lighting, parking lot repairs, structural building issues, and zoning violations.

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    “The conditions at Eastland Mall are a hazard to the public and immediate action must be taken to bring the property into compliance, and that begins with property owners stepping up to make improvements,” stated City Attorney Zach Klein in a release issued today. “Eastland Mall is important to our east side communities, and we’re prepared to pursue every legal option to hold property owners accountable and ensure the site’s long-term economic health.”

    First opened in 1968, Eastland Mall was the city’s first enclosed shopping mall with original anchors including Sears, J.C. Penney and Lazarus. A fourth anchor was added in 2005, but the mall has slowly seen all four of its anchor stores close since then with Sears as the final holdout, closing in the fall of 2017.

    A company known as Eastland Mall Holdings LLC currently owns and operates the property, but has never publicly made any announcement about revitalizing the mall. The mall’s Facebook page has been dormant since September 2020 and Instagram account quiet since December 2021. According to the Eastland Mall website directory, 56 business currently operate within the mall, but that listing has not been confirmed as accurate or up to date.

    In March of this year, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced a new focus on the neighborhood surrounding the mall during his annual State of the City address.

    “We are also setting our sights on revitalizing the Eastland area, where we will be developing a new community-driven plan like the ones we created for Linden and the Hilltop – which have subsequently received more than $150 million in public and private investments to-date,” said Ginther during the address. “We know how successful these community plans can be – and we look forward to working with our neighbors and businesses in Eastland to make a similar impact.”

    New details on what that redevelopment plan could look like have been sparse. A redevelopment plan for the Eastland neighborhood and Hamilton Road corridor was put together in 2007, but few updates have been made from that plan in the years since.

    Source: BBPC, Jacobs Carter Burgess — from the 2007 Hamilton Road Corridor Eastland Revitalization Plan.

    For now, a court order is in effect for Eastland Mall Holdings, requiring the property owner to make parking lot repairs before August 13, and come into compliance with code violations by July 13. A contempt hearing will take place on September 22 to determine if the owner has complied with the orders and the future of the property could be decided then.

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    Walker Evans
    Walker Evanshttps://columbusunderground.com
    Walker Evans is the co-founder of Columbus Underground, along with his wife and business partner Anne Evans. Walker has turned local media into a full time career over the past decade and serves on multiple boards and committees throughout the community.
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