House Passes Pilot Program for Adaptive Reuse of Malls

On July 20, 2022, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 8294, the fiscal year 2023 appropriations bill for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Included in the legislation is funding for a new ICSC-supported program that will allow HUD to provide competitive grants and favorable financing for communities that redevelop vacant shopping malls and other underutilized commercial properties, or grayfields. The new program will be funded at $60 million in its initial year, with $50 million of the appropriation earmarked specifically for the redevelopment of shopping malls. The grant funds are paired with a CDBG loan guarantee program to leverage the effectiveness of the funds and lengthen their applicability.

The proposed program was modeled after H.R. 5041, the GREATER Revitalization of Shopping Centers Act, introduced by Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA).  The bill was developed with extensive input from ICSC and would allow communities across the country to apply to HUD for economic development grants to complement the long-term financing they receive under their Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Section 108 loans.

The Fiscal Year 2023 funding process now moves to the Senate and ICSC will be working with its allies in both chambers to ensure the favorable House language is included in the final version of the bill.

The legislative text of the pilot program can be found here.