Cafaro Looks to Upgrades Rather Than Expansion

YOUNGSTOWN, OH-Cafaro Co., based here, is embarked on a few multimillion-dollar renovation projects at its malls across the country. The company is about to start the projects at the 600,000-sf Frenchtown Square Mall in Monroe, MI and the 2.6-million-sf Millcreek Mall in Erie, PA, as well as adding a lifestyle center to the Spotsylvania Town Center in Fredericksburg, VA, as part of an ongoing program that the center owner has to update its properties.

At Frenchtown, the company plans a major upgrade to the 20-year-old mall, starting in early 2009 and finishing by Christmas of that year. A spokesman says the company will undertake a variety of interior and exterior renovations. “We typically go in and, on the interior, add skylights, a new ceiling, floor treatments, things like that to give it more of a 21st century look. At Frenchtown, we’re also going to add new offerings such as apparel and food vendors. This takes some time, working out over a period of months, if not years.” The occupancy at the mall now is in the ’90s, the spokesman says.

He says his company has been in talks with Monroe officials about what they would like to see done at the mall, and especially to dispel hints of a closure. “There were rumors we were going to level it and turn it into condos, but we have absolutely no intention of closing the mall,” the spokesman says. The exact cost for the upgrade can’t be released, he says.