Could Cape Cod Mall become your home? Here's what is planned

Zane Razzaq, Cape Cod Times
·4 min read

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was corrected on Jan. 12, 2023, to correctly reflect ownership of the Natick Mall.

HYANNIS — Want to live at the mall?

It could happen in Hyannis, but specific plans are still a ways away.

Barnstable town officials cleared a hurdle for Mayflower Cape Cod LLC, which owns Cape Cod Mall, to look into adding housing and a hotel at the 65-acre shopping center on Iyannough Road. The property contains stores such as Barnes and Noble, Best Buy and Dick's Sporting Goods.

Tim Fox, of Simon Property Group, which operates the mall, said the process has been in the works for four-plus years, starting when the property transformed after the Sears anchor store closed and was replaced by Target and Dick's Sporting Goods among other stores.

Traffic streams past the main entrance to the Cape Cod Mall on Route 132 in Hyannis on a recent weekday.
Traffic streams past the main entrance to the Cape Cod Mall on Route 132 in Hyannis on a recent weekday.

"It's been a priority for us to take the mall from the past into the present," Fox told the Barnstable Town Council last month.

Adding housing at shopping malls has become a trend over the past several years. A full-service luxury condominium named Nouvelle at Natick was built adjacent to the Natick Mall, owned by Brookfield Properties, more than 15 years ago.

At the time, it was the first residential building attached to a mall in the New England suburbs, according to the MetroWest Daily News.

Rezoning paves way for Cape Cod Mall to add housing, hotel

Councilors approved a request from the mall owners to rezone the property to allow for a broader range of uses, including multi-family dwellings, hotels and offices, and increase the allowable building height of hotel and multi-family dwellings uses to four stories or 55 feet.

Major renovations were underway in March of 2019 at the Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis. Renovations included creating space for Target where the former Sears store was located.
Major renovations were underway in March of 2019 at the Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis. Renovations included creating space for Target where the former Sears store was located.

According to the current zoning, the maximum building height for retail shopping centers is 42.5 feet or two stories, whichever is the shortest height.

The amendment also decreases the amount of on-site parking, which will allow the mall to put its vast parking lot to more productive use, Fox said.

The former Sears store included a tire, battery and auto accessory shop but those may no longer be allowed use under a yet-to-be-determined new zoning scheme. Eliza Cox, an attorney at Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP who is representing Mayflower Cape Cod, said town staff asked if owners would consider removing that as an allowed use, because the property is in the groundwater protection district, and they agreed.

The mall property is currently zoned for commercial use.

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If Mayflower puts forth a development plan that includes multi-family housing, the development would have to meet an affordable housing requirement. When submitted, the proposed development would have to provide either what's required under Chapter 9 of the Inclusionary Housing Code or 10% of units would have to be restricted for individuals and families earning up to 65% area median income and 3% for those earning up to 80% AMI, depending on which is greater.

Data from the town shows a four-person household making at least $70,655 is at 65% AMI; while a four-person household earning at least $86,950 is at 80%.

Cape Cod Mall in need of 'invigoration'

The retail industry has shifted dramatically towards online retail, said Fox, and that was only accelerated by the pandemic. The rezoning eases the way for redevelopment and allows the Cape Cod Mall to move towards a more mixed-use environment, he said.

Councilors warmly welcomed the proposal and unanimously endorsed it. Tracy Shaughnessy, who represents Precinct 9, said the property "is in need of invigoration."

"As it stands right now, multi-family housing, hotels, none of those things are even an option there — or office space. The mall is becoming slightly depressing, as you see particularly over COVID and the amount of businesses that moved out," said Shaughnessy.

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Cox said the amendments lay the foundation to allow for future redevelopment. Any specific plans would need to undergo the normal course of permitting, she said.

She called the mall a major player in Barnstable, saying its assessed valuation is $110 million making it nearly three times the next largest taxpayer. The mall employs nearly 1,000 people, she said.

Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @zanerazz.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: A zoning change will allow Cape Cod Mall to build housing, hotel