I used to work for a company in NYS that used a section of a converted mall for office space. God, that was the worst office space I've ever been in -- the floors moved a ton when you moved your chair, echoed when you walked around, the temperatures were absolutely all over the place depending on how close you were to a heater/cooling vent, and worst of all... malls don't really have windows.<p>Working in a converted mall might as well be working in a prison, for all I can tell. The walkway through the middle was kind of nice (and the food court still functioned as a cafeteria, so you could walk fully indoors during cold winter/hot summer days to get a coffee or lunch)... but I think I'd still rather be able to see the outdoors from my desk.
In college, I pulled a gas line through 30 feet of existing retail space at this very mall for a retrofit asian bistro. It's an absolute dump, no natural light, sprawling and fundematly unfixable early 80s bad mall architecture.<p>I have a friend who lives across the street from Epic's existing HQ. It looks like a fun-looking building to work in, I have a hard time imagining Cary Towne Center not being a downgrade no matter how much cash you throw at renovation. Just getting the all-permeating smell of stale roasted popcorn out of the concrete is going to take a small fortune.
Rackspace did a similar thing in San Antonio. There are many photos of the transition here: <a href="https://www.mysanantonio.com/lifestyle/slideshow/Photos-show-the-abandoned-Windsor-Park-Mall-165295.php" rel="nofollow">https://www.mysanantonio.com/lifestyle/slideshow/Photos-show...</a>
I've long said that if I ever struck it stupid rich, I'd buy a mall to live in.<p>It would still have stores. I'd pay to have those stores stocked. Ideally it would have a 90s-era movie theatre in it, too. But otherwise it would be empty.<p>Why? So that I can live every day like I'm the last surviving human. Dawn of the Dead, minus the flesh eaters.<p>(Alternative plan: buy up a ghost town. Same plan, otherwise.)
If anyone is curious, here is the mall in question: <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/pdJPjXz1zbrNmXSn8" rel="nofollow">https://goo.gl/maps/pdJPjXz1zbrNmXSn8</a><p>I grew up down the road from this place.
I believe the Google X building in Mountain View on San Antonio used to be the Mayfield Mall. They did a nice job renovating it for their purposes but you still feel like you're at a mall when you go through the building.
Google is in the middle of refitting the former Westside Pavilion, located at Westwood & Pico, as a new Los Angeles office. The last I'd seen a few months ago, it'd been taken down to the floors and structural risers; all the walls and other partitions are gone, so they'll be able to include natural light however they see fit.
Epic seems to be the one company in the Research Triangle that's been making the news often, recently. Wonder how the startup scene has been in Raleigh–Durham–Cary.
I grew up in the 80s going to the Cary Mall. It was awesome. I used to converge at the arcade where my dad would occasionally give me $.50 to play 2 games......Mostly I would watch. Anyway, it's great to see my hometown have Epic and SAS as headquarters as this usually leads to good paying middle class and above jobs ..........