Kmart Closure Chance to think more about 25th and Mission

That's a whole lotta nothin at 25th and Mission

You probably have already seen the news that the Kmart store at 25th and Mission is going to close.

That's a high traffic intersection, and you'd think that it would support more business, more activity, more something.

But it was already a void with too much parking lot, and it's emptying out even more.

You might recall that the old car lot has seemed stubbornly resistant to redevelopment.*

25th and Mission not called out as "opportunity site"

In the NEN-SESNA Neighborhood Plan, this intersection was not identified as an "opportunity site."

In many ways the airport casts a long shadow here and is a big ingredient in the emptiness. It's not at all a good place for new residential development. (You might recall the saga of the May's Landing development, which touched on this many times.) It's not surprising that it has seemed difficult to redevelop.

East of Kuebler, the Mill Creek Corporate Center
and Salem Renewable Energy and Techology Center
 are remote from anything except the interstate.

But would some of these sites be more useful for business development than shoving everything out to the greenfields east of Kuebler/Cordon?

ODOT want to enlarge this intersection even more

Still, the area here is not very walkable or bikeable, nor is there very much wealth nearby. There's no obvious answer to transforming this intersection. It's not like you could just plop down streetcar-scaled retail, some new offic buildings, and create a vibrant little quarter.

Though retaining the old ball park here would have helped!

So there are no obvious answers here, but maybe the store closure is a chance to think more about how to create better and more value than the sea of parking lots that is there presently.

At the same time, you have to "pick your winners" and it may be that other areas of town will remain a higher priority and will retain better odds of success. So maybe this corner will languish yet more.

Something to think about.

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* Update: Over at SCV they note that there is an approved plan for the old car lot. Back in May the city approved:

An application to construct a home improvement center and parking lot. Class 3 Site Plan Review, Class 2 Adjustment, and Class 2 Driveway Approach Permit for a 259,000 square foot home improvement center (retail sales) consisting of a two story structure with enclosed and covered sales areas on a 17.5 acre property zoned CR (Retail Commercial) and CG (General Commercial) and located at 2505, 2575, and 2711 Mission Street SE 97302 (Marion County Assessor's Map and Tax Lots 073W36 / 02000, 03500, and 03700).