By Kris Hudson | The Wall Street Journal
QUEEN CREEK, Ariz.—For years, this growing suburb of Phoenix had been anticipating the development of an open-air mall on 500 acres, a project that promised to be the main commercial center—and tax generator—on the town’s southern end.
Since the project was approved in 2006, however, the retrenchment of brick-and-mortar stores nationally and the rise of online shopping have led executives at developer WDP Partners LLC to conclude they no longer want to build a mall in Queen Creek. Instead, they want to sell the land as 1,100 home sites.
“You build what there is demand for,” WDP partner Jack Rasor said. “You need rooftops to justify the retail, so that has to happen first.”
The shift, if approved, would represent not just a loss of revenue. It would also be a potential strain on the town’s finances and composition.
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