Sycamore Mall Changing Name to 'Iowa City Marketplace' As Part of Rebranding and Restructuring Effort

I stopped by the Sycamore Mall a little over a week ago to talk about the state of the mall with owner John Arlotti, the vice president of the company that owns and runs the Sycamore Mall-- CORE Realty Holdings out of Newport Beach, Calif.

There, affixed to the wall inside the mall office, was a plan that Arlotti hopes to slowly be able to reveal to the public over the coming weeks and months. Starting with a new name for the mall, which was released today: the Iowa City Marketplace. 


"We've got a lot of things on the drawing board that we're really excited about," Arlotti said. "We want to create a place for Iowa City residents -- east side residents especially since they are clustered around there -- where they feel comfortable to shop and where we're able to provide for their needs here. And that may look totally different than what a standard mall concept is."

The mall's owners are working with local architects Shive-Hattery to formulate a new neighborhood concept for the mall. George Ford of the Gazette spoke with a Shive-Hattery representative in a story today about some of the concepts being discussed that will fit the character of the mall's name change.

Mark Seabold, a Shive-Hattery architect, said the main concept for Iowa City Marketplace removes leased space to provide interior and exterior areas for social interaction, including a new exterior plaza at the former main entrance.

Slow Progress

Arlotti said these concepts are trickling out slowly because the mall's owners are trying to entice a variety of tenants to rent the Von Maur space, and some of these clients would like to keep their plans confidential. He said the mall is currently talking with three regional and three national vendors who are interested in the Von Maur space.

"It's hard to be able to give timelines when you're dealing with third parties," Arlotti said. "They're not going to give us a timeline, and if they don't give us a timeline then we can't give one to the outside public."

Arlotti said he has been talks with local retailers as well. Although the concepts will remain the same, the character of the mall may change dramatically based on what takes the space as the large anchor tenant or tenants and what other businesses would fit with them.

For example, talks also continue with the Fab Lab, which has been widely reported to be a possibility for the space.

"He's doing his research on what it will take, and I think the media kind of jumped the gun a little bit on that," Arlotti said. "We haven't signed anything with him. We're certainly talking with him but we haven't made any commitments on the Von Mar Space or the Ben Franklin Space or any of the spaces that are out there."

Weathering the Departures

Ben Franklin is another recent high profile departure from the mall. Arlotti said he wished the owners well on their next endeavors; however, the popular store's leaving is another setback in the mall's effort to regain relevancy. These efforts have been hampered by its anchor store, Von Maur, departing, and with persistent road construction by the city on both Sycamore Street and Lower Muscatine Road that abut the mall.

"It's an ongoing battle with the loss of the tenant that we had and the city construction that's going on," Arlotti said.

Arlotti said that due to the hit to mall traffic he and the other mall owners are trying to do what they can to help support the retailers who are still at the mall who are trying to weather the transition from what the mall was into what it will become. This help will include additional signage, marketing, and word of mouth, he said, although he conceded that it will be a long few months to try to get through as the process works itself out.

"We hope that just the fact that we've been here for awhile as owners will let people in the community know that we stand by what we say," Arlotti said. "And we're in it for the long run."

Smile and Say Hello

One new initiative you can look forward to in the coming months is the "Smile and Say Hello" program. Arlotti said that this is intended to encourage local shoppers to stop by the mall again and say hello to local retailers in the mall as the holiday season approaches. Shoppers who do so and drop off an entry at designated locations can be entered to win $250 mall gift certificates.

Arlotti said the current plans are for one gift certificate a month, but that could be increased based on demand.

"If we get a good turnout we may ultimately ante up and do more gift certificates," Arlotti said. "It's all about getting people in and helping the retailers out in the mall."