Thanks to a court agreement, part of Eastland Mall could be demolished before next summer.
Eastland Mall closed in December 2022. Since then, the city of Columbus has noted health and safety violations at the property, including broken glass, parking areas in disrepair, and high grass, weeds and debris. Owners thus far have failed to pay fines or bring the property up to code.
Eastland Mall opened in 1968. At one time, it was known for its four anchor stores, Lazarus, JCPenney, Sear’s and Macy’s. New Orleans-based Eastland Holdings, LLC, bought most of the mall property on Hamilton Road for $9.7 million in 2015.
A Wednesday agreement in Franklin County Municipal Court between Eastland Mall Holdings, LLC, and the city of Columbus requires, among other things, that the owners demolish and inspect part of the site by May 31, 2025.
Owners will have from the beginning of Eastland Preparatory Academy’s summer break at the end of May until Sept. 15, 2025, to take down another part of the mall connected to the school.
Prior to that, Eastland Mall Holdings, LLC, must meet other deadlines, including presenting a contract for remediation of asbestos by Nov. 30, and detailed plans for demolition or alteration of the main mall building by Dec. 31.
If the company fails to meet those and other stipulations, the city can immediately ask the court to appoint a receiver to take over the property. The order could take effect immediately and would not be appealable.
“It’s a long time coming,” said Quay Barnes, outreach chief with the Mid-East Area Commission.
Barnes called the court agreement a "win-win."
"If they comply and they start to demolish what is required, then that gets us closer to starting to renew and renovate the location of the property. If they do not, it goes into a receivership, in which case the city again can get someone in there to make it up to code,” Barnes said.
Barnes said in its heyday, Eastland Mall was the “cornerstone” of the neighborhood.
“People came from as far away as Newark. It was a gathering place. It was wonderful,” Barnes said. “And even though we understood that malls were going to go by the wayside, at some point, these owners did not even make the attempt to keep the property up.”
Barns said the reclamation of the mall site will help the revitalization of the east side. She said the neighborhood is already happy to have organizations coming in, like Columbus State College’s extension and Mid-Ohio Food Collective’s soon-to-be Eastland Prosperity Center.
“And we want to get it to a point where it is a place where people want to come and spend time with us on this side of town and grow with us,” Barnes said.
