Mall blight study unveiled

HOLLADAY — The dilapidated Cottonwood Mall is on tap to get the face-lift developers have bragged about for years.

Late Thursday night, Holladay's Redevelopment Agency accepted for review a blight study in a unanimous 5-0 vote. Once approved, more than 67 acres could receive tax dollars through the urban renewal project. An Oct. 11 hearing and subsequent vote will establish project boundaries.

Cottonwood Mall was built in 1962 and was the first mall of its kind in the state. Today, it is a far cry from what it once was. It saw a rapid decline in the '80s when Fashion Place in Murray was renovated and South Towne in Sandy built.

"For the past five years, we've been looking for ways to bring Cottonwood back," said Kathy Olson, senior director of development with Genera Growth Properties that acquired the mall in 2002.

A new Cottonwood will be mixed-use and pedestrian-friendly, with a European flair.

Consultants from Bonneville Research presented results from their study and said all 35 parcels had some form of blight.

A handful of property owners attended the hearing, most confused about their land being included in the study and designated as blighted.

"We're just trying to get acclimated to what's happening," said Steven Breitling, who owns an acre where a nursery operated on Arbor Lane and Highland. "I want to see improvement there. It's needed. I just don't know what the effects are."

Business partner Richard Duggar said he's been waiting for the project to get started so he can form a plan for his land.

"For year and years, I had ideas, I had plans, but then I stopped when I found out the Cottonwood Mall was going to be redone," Duggar said. "I'm merely waiting."

Then there's Ron Spratling Jr. and his son Ron Spratling III. The two have seven parcels of property in the urban renewal project, almost all leased by fast-food chains or other developments. They want to keep their land in the family, where it's been for 60 years.

Property owners could have the chance to bow out of the urban renewal project and not be included in the boundaries.

The Holladay City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency Board, has set the course for the first steps in the renovation of the mall at 4835 S. Highland Drive.

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