City of Battle Creek Makes Statement about Trees Removed from Lakeview Square Mall + Future of the Shopping Center
Not only has news of a rash of stores and restaurants closing at Lakevew Square Mall and the Beckley Road shopping district jarred Battle Creek, the landscape changed abruptly with the removal of trees along M-66 near the former Don Pablo's. The City took to Facebook recently to address both.
In addressing the closure of stores inside the mall the City's Economic Development department stated,
We realize this is a challenging time for brick and mortar stores, and the closures of Regis, HatWorld and, soon, Macy's have caused anxiety about the future.
We've heard questions about Victoria's Secret, but they do not plan to close and no other tenants with expiring leases have said they plan to close.
We can't speak for the mall owners, but we do meet with them often to talk strategy for future opportunities and development. They are aggressively pursuing other retail opportunities and have not given any indication they intend to close the mall. They are planning for the future.
The removal of trees shocked nearly everyone who has driven by the busy intersection of M-66 and Beckley Road near the former Don Pablo's restaurant.
The city stated,
the property owner removed trees, shrubs and other plants to enhance the marketability, as they look for a new tenant. Some of those were removed from city and state rights-of-way, as well as mall property.
GK Development (the mall owners) and MDOT are working with the property owner to address the situation, and expect there will be some re-plantings. Everyone is working to find a solution that allows that site to be visible, but also offer an attractive landscape.