The developers wanting to redevelop the Steeplegate Mall are returning to their pursuit of a green light from the city, with tweaks in their plans after more than a year of legal delays.
The most substantial change in the updated plan is that JCPenney isn’t on it.
In the project’s first visible momentum since developers sought permission to tear down the mall in 2024, the Concord Planning Board will consider the project’s comprehensive development plan as soon as Wednesday night.
The site plan still includes a Costco and other retail outlets, while the proposed number of apartments has been scaled back slightly from 625 to 600. The Zoo Health Club and Altitude Trampoline Park, also long-term tenants at the current mall, still appear in plans in a standalone building.
JCPenney sued the developer over the project in 2024, but just last month city officials reported that a deal had been reached that would allow the project to go forward. The last anchor tenant of the mall no longer appears in the future plans for the complex.
No official resolution yet appears in the court record and both representatives from the mall project and JCPenney have not responded to requests for comment about the agreement. With some rearranging, most of the space that would have been occupied by JCPenney is made up with additional parking.
Largely unchanged in the updated plans are a bank and retail spaces at the former Regal Cinemas location, smaller retail buildings along D’Amante Drive and a Costco gas station along Loudon Road. Applebee’s and TD Bank would continue on, though the developer is looking for the Planning Board to approve the dissolution of a condominium agreement involving the three entities.
While the plan appears on Wednesday night’s agenda, it might not be taken up since city staff is recommending the board push out its consideration until July.
The city and the developer still have ground to cover about infrastructure at the former mall site.
City officials approved major sewer main and pump improvements on the east side of the river, including a pump station near the mall, in 2024. While those upgrades will benefit far more users than just the mall, per city assessments, the sewer system on the Heights can not handle the full project until those upgrades are online.
The mall won’t be complete for at least 18 to 24 months, a staff report notes, and the project may need to phase its construction. Other details about the plan also got commentary from the city, including traffic flows with new roads through the complex and a suggestion for a roundabout in front of the entrance to Target on D’Amante Drive.
The mall isn’t the only project up for review: an eye doctor’s plan to convert the former South End Rite Aid into medical offices and a proposal from Remi Hinxia to convert a former Waypoint building into more than 20 apartments are also up for consideration.
