Another Christmas Shopping Season Comes and Goes – Elk Grove Promenade Still Sits Half-baked

Symbol of Hubris?

Black Friday has come and gone and soon that other big Holiday shopping event, Boxing Day as they call it across the pond, is just around the corner.

Had things gone the way Elk Grove city fathers had hoped, there would have been lines of car queued along the Highway 99 and Grantline just itching to get into the Elk Grove Promenade to partake in America’s favorite activity - no, not gambling - rather shopping until you drop.

But, oh, how have times have changed since the 2007 ground breaking much less when the plans were formulated for what has become a half-built strip center than looms like a Greek ruin of times long gone.

Now that the Elk Grove Promenade has sat half-built and in visibly deteriorating condition for close to three-and-half-years, one has to wonder how long it will take until the strip center is finished.

But given the host of societal, demographic and economic changes we have experienced since the onset of The Great Recession, the question should really be this - should the Elk Grove Promenade even be completed?

Obviously the fate of the Promenade ultimately will be decided by current owners, the Howard Hughes Co. Nonetheless, it is a question worth looking at given the city's recent propensity to give multi-million dollar incentives.

First and foremost, we hope that the city does not grant any sort of multi-million dollar tax incentive or tax-break for completion of the mall. Elk Grove taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for others blunders.

As many Elk Grove residents and council members have said, the city needs more jobs, not rooftops. Likewise, a shopping center needs more rooftops locally if it is to be economically viable for anchor tenants. 

Even if we wrongly pursue rooftops, it is unlikely the weak housing market would justify building more rooftops anytime in the next decade sufficient to support potential retailers at the strip center.

Beyond that, changes in American society following are well documented. To start with shopping malls, even our over-grown strip center, are a dying breed.

As discussed in this story (which features Elk Grove), Americans are trending away from suburban life and looking to live in more walkable communities. Furthermore, Baby Boomers are down-scaling down and preparing for retirement (such as it will be in the world of shrinking 401k values) while marriage and birth rates, both crucial to filling future suburban rooftops, are dropping.

So as the Elk Grove Promenade sits rotting on the city's fringe south side, we have to question whether its need in the marketplace has come and gone. As each days passes, it is becoming apparent that its utility has passed.

If the Howard Hughes Co. decides to can the project, which would not be surprising or disappointing, perhaps the eyesore should just be torn down.

Or better yet, we could leave it as is as a fitting reminder of the hubris leading up to The Great Recession.