Home Is Where .. The Mall Is? ne of the oldest shopping malls in America anchors the Minneapolis suburb Edina, Minn., to its retail district. In turn, to remain one of the country’s top suburbs amid an aging Olocal population, the city is now looking to reinvent itself. Edina leaders and the owners of the Southdale Center shopping mall have adopted an increasingly popular approach to attract younger resi - dents: asking them to live at the shopping mall. Simon Property Group Inc. and local developer Stuart Co. opened the doors in September to One Southdale Place, a 232-unit luxury-apartment community erected on the site of a former parking lot at the corner of the mall’s property. The demographic shift has been especially acute in and around Edina. People over the age of 45 accounted for 39.2 percent of all residents in the Minneapolis suburbs just four years ago—an increase from 31.8 percent a decade earlier, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data by the Brook - ings Institution. Resident Tom Bymark, who leased in September, says living there is convenient. “It’s a time and money saver for me,” Bymark says. “I can go to the mall when I need to quickly pick something up like a new pair of headphones or a last-minute tie if I’m going out for a nice dinner. I save money because I can walk there and not waste gas. Having Southdale Cen - ter, built originally in 1956, as my backyard gives me the convenience of catching a movie, going shopping, or going out to dinner all near my front door.” Monthly rents range from $1,360 for a studio apartment to $6,000 for a penthouse. With One Southdale, Edina is joining numerous U.S. towns— including those just outside of Atlanta, Dallas and Phoenix—that are try - ing to appeal to Millennials by remaking aging retail malls as town centers with multifamily housing, offices, and more all within easy walk - ing distance of stores and eateries. Also getting into the act is Glimcher Realty Trust, another mall operator that has spent nearly $61 million building a luxury-apartment communi - ty at one of its outdoor shopping centers in Scottsdale, Ariz. Simon has now built or has plans to build apartments at malls outside of Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston. Additionally, such other mall owners as General Growth Properties Inc. and Macerich Co. continue to experiment with Southdale Center residential components at their centers. shopping mall, —Paul R. Bergeron III, NAA Edina, Minn. 62 UNITS December 2014 www.naahq.org www.naahq.org December 2014 UNITS 63.