A nonprofit associated with Santa Fe South Schools is pursuing an ambitious redevelopment of Crossroads Mall with the goal of turning it into a mix of education, retail, clinics and housing with the backing of a group of donors led by Hobby Lobby.
The mall at Interstate 240 and Interstate 35 was purchased for $9.2 million on Jan. 30 by the Crossroads Renewal Project, a Christian nonprofit whose board is chaired by Chris Brewster, superintendent of Santa Fe South Schools.
Santa Fe South Schools’ enrollment in two of the mall’s former anchor stores totals about 2,300 students. The purchase includes the two remaining anchor store spaces, the two-level retail concourse and 62 acres of surface parking surrounding the mall.
Public courtyard areas of the Crossroads Mall development are envisioned to reflect the growing number of students attending Santa Fe South Schools in two of the former anchor stores.
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Purchase talks dragged on for months, Brewster said, due to mechanics liens placed on the property by unpaid contractors. Small businesses that were enticed to open shops in the mall by its previous ownership filed lawsuits when the deals fell apart. More than 20 amendments were added to the purchase contract.
“Though we have crossed a finish line of sorts in this long-awaited acquisition, to us it feels that we’ve really crossed a starting line,” Brewster said. “Now we can run with this vision to transform this space. We can’t wait to see who joins us and how their gifts will bless the thousands of children in our community.”
What is currently planned for the Crossroads Mall redevelopment?
Crossroads Renewal Project already has commitments for 100,000 square feet in the 1.2 million-square-foot mall with interested parties including health care and education support services, government agencies, nonprofits and local businesses.
Aspirations include making the mall home to a no-barrier health clinic, including mental health services, open to patients regardless of insurance and ability to pay. The clinic is inspired by a similar program at Henderson Hills Baptist Church in Edmond.
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After recently buying Crossroads Mall, a Christian nonprofit is hoping to transform the wings between the former anchor stores into a mix of clinics, services, retail, restaurants and housing.
The development is predicated on the anticipation that the mall and surrounding properties will see a daily population of more than 10,000 people just based on school growth.
Santa Fe South Schools, a charter school district with 10 locations, expects to add another 750 students at Crossroads once the former Dillard’s space is renovated.
Dove Science Academy, meanwhile, is looking to expand its school on the Crossroads Mall campus to the free-standing, former AMC Theater.
Plans filed with the city show a 1,000-student school will open in the former theater at 1211 E Interstate 240 Service Road, which is about 1,600 feet east of the Dove Science Academy-South Elementary.
A former AMC Crossroads 16 theater is pictured in January in Oklahoma City.
Plans submitted to the Oklahoma City Planning Department show the theater will be converted into 29 classrooms, a 5,012-square-foot gymnasium, a 366-seat auditorium, two cafeterias, a physics lab, two libraries, stem lab, two science labs, two art rooms and two biology labs.
Those numbers, Brewster hopes, will support redevelopment of the mall concourse. Developers consulted in the planning, meanwhile, have indicated up to 362 housing units can be built on the surrounding acreage.
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Brewster said the nonprofit has set a deadline of 36 months to come up with a viable plan to redevelop the mall concourse levels, with a backup plan of tearing down the concourse levels and just keeping the anchor stores standing.
Santa Fe Schools South got its start at the mall in 2017 when the Charter Schools Development Corp. purchased the former Montgomery Ward anchor for $1.8 million. Another $10 million was spent on renovations.
At the time, the school anticipated providing needed foot traffic to support a fledgling effort to turn the mall into a center of Hispanic commerce.
Six months later, the mall was shut down. Santa Fe South, continuing to see rapid enrollment growth, bought a second anchor store that was originally home to John A. Brown Department Store in January 2021.
Utah-based Linn’s Crossroads Plaza LLC purchased the remainder of the mall in May 2021 for $6.5 million with plans to open an Asian market. The market never materialized, and Brewster learned that despite assurances otherwise, the mall owner was preparing to open a large marijuana grow in the former Dillard’s anchor space.
“We worked diligently with lawmakers to close up a loophole that allowed (marijuana grows) in close proximity to students,” Brewster said. Just as troubling to the school, Brewster said, was a couple who sought to turn part of the mall into convention space for marijuana-related events.
A half-finished Chinese “friendship arch” is the only visible evidence of improvements attempted by the former ownership at Crossroads Mall.
“It’s interesting that it seems the only construction they did was a half-finished Asian Friendship Arch,” Brewster said.
“The sort of undesirable nature of businesses next to us didn’t go away,” Brewster said. “The decline of the physical space was accelerating to where the fire marshal with the city shut down the Dillard’s building and electricity was terminated.”
A dream of revitalizing Crossroads Mall became a feasibility study, and then support
Proposed Crossroads mall plan.
All along, Brewster dreamed of somehow bringing the mall back to life. The Charter School Growth Fund then gave Brewster the inspiration for making that dream come true by funding a feasibility study.
Brewster met with developers with experience in complicated mixed-use developments, including Gary Brooks, who led renovations of First National Center, Blair Humphreys who is building out Wheeler at the former Downtown Airpark, and Hank and Susan Binkowski, who developed several retail centers.
Further talks included gatherings of churches throughout the city, especially south Oklahoma City, and with students’ parents.
Support was provided by the Inasmuch Foundation, the Butterfield Foundation and Hobby Lobby, which employs 7,000 people in south Oklahoma City.
Tyler Green said the timing was right for his family-owned company, which was looking for an opportunity to make a more impactful contribution to its hometown.
Entertainer Ed McMahon talks to an audience in 1993 at Crossroads Mall, including about 300 hopefuls auditioning for “Ed McMahon’s Great American ‘Star Search’ Talent Hunt.”
“I grew up going to that mall,” Green said. “I think it was my first encounter with a Chick-Fil-A in Oklahoma City. There was a pet store at this mall where there weren’t pet stores at any of the other malls. That’s what I remembered as a kid. And many more have memories of things that happened there.”
Commerce, Brewster said, may return to Crossroads Mall, but the focus will be on locally owned businesses. Instead of Starbucks, the mall would lean toward a “Not Your Average Joe,” a nonprofit that employs those with special needs. Talks also are underway with restaurant operators.
Brewster also anticipates a future church presence at the mall, something Green said represents part of the focus of the mall’s new owners.
“This used to be a place of consumption, a place for economic exchange,” Green said. “But I would love it to be known as a place for community, where people go and gather, and a place of care.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: New Crossroads Mall owners have big plans, support from Hobby Lobby
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