(07-27-2018 08:04 PM)banker Wrote:  I've long thought that old malls should be converted to schools. We spend a ton of money building new schools and you could retrofit a mall cheaper. Anchor stores could be gyms and indoor practice facilities, you already have a food court, ample parking with room for sports venues, and you could really control access better than at most schools that exist today.

You can basically buy malls for nothing these days, I've seen several sell for less than $10 a square foot, basically for less than the underlying land value.

Anything municipal/government is a good reuse of the building. A mall could be converted in a public school, back office space for county administration (clerk of courts, public records, police station, all kinds of courtrooms, a jail county lock up, DMV. One stop shopping, drop your kid off to school, visit Jr's arraignment in court, pay parking tickets, visit probation officer, ID a body in the morgue. Obviously the food court can stay in place.