If you’ve lived in Savannah long enough, you’ve probably driven past the old Savannah Mall and wondered — what’s going to happen to that place?
For years, the city’s mall scene has been on a slow decline. Oglethorpe Mall still holds on, but even that’s had its struggles lately, including a shooting over the summer that reminded everyone how fragile those old retail centers have become. The Savannah Mall, meanwhile, has sat empty for more than two years, a reminder of what used to be one of the busier spots in the Southside.
Now, talk of redevelopment has surfaced again. A plan first introduced in 2018, called the Savannah Legacy Project, is back in discussion. Designed by David M. Schwarz Architects and sponsored by the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), the concept would replace the shuttered mall with something far more useful than a sprawling, empty parking lot: a walkable town center featuring small shops, green space, and housing.
The idea is to transform what’s now an abandoned lot into a neighborhood with shops, restaurants, housing, and gathering spaces, while also tying it directly to Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong Campus across Abercorn Street. Part of the proposal includes redesigning a stretch of Abercorn into a boulevard-style road that’s safer for pedestrians and cyclists, helping the campus connect to the new development.
It’s an ambitious plan — and like many ambitious plans, it’s been sitting idle for years. But at a meeting in September, city leaders said they’re exploring ways to move parts of it forward, possibly using SPLOST funding for early stages. Whether that actually happens remains to be seen, but at least the conversation is happening again.
For locals, though, the feeling is pretty simple: something needs to be done. Savannah’s Southside deserves more than an abandoned mall at one of its most visible intersections. Even if it doesn’t become a full-scale “town center,” putting that land to good use — whether for mixed-use development, housing, or education, it would be a huge step forward.
The Savannah Mall once represented growth and convenience. Now, it’s a blank slate waiting for the city’s next chapter. Whether this plan is the one that finally sticks, we’ll have to wait and see.
