BUTTE — The Butte Plaza Mall’s new owner is planning to spend the next year and a half redesigning the building and bringing in new tenants. Once the renovations are complete, the mall will have a completely different look.
“I mean, I realize the mall is pretty dead inside and our goal is to revitalize it and kind of turn inside out,” said Darren Dickerhoof.
Dickerhoof Properties acquired the mall from the Hyman Family Trust in May for $8.5 million. The redesign by the new owner will begin next year and bring significant changes to the current appearance of the mall.
“The terminology developers use is called de-malling, where you flip it inside out and you have more bigger stores with their own facades,” said Dickerhoof.
There are approximately six businesses interested in becoming tenants in the new plaza.
“We are working with some clothing tenants, shoes, beauty and makeup,” said Dickerhoof.
The developer anticipates that the former Herberger’s section of the mall will likely be demolished to make room for a yet-to-be-named grocery store.
Dickerhoof believes that Butte residents will be pleased with the addition of the grocery store.
“This grocer will, I think, be very competitive with pricing, which will make some of the other grocers have to compete with them and I think that will be good for the citizens,” he said.
The mall’s manager views the purchase of the mall as more than just a business decision.
“Total divine intervention. I believe it, I believe it. I believe he was an answer to a prayer,” said Mall Manager Alana Ferko.
The mall has been experiencing a decline in businesses over the years, and Ferko had a particularly bad day when she found Dickerhoof’s business card and contacted him.
“And I called my mall owners and said, ‘You guys need to call him. If you don’t call him, I’m going to call him.’ And I was having such a bad day that they knew I meant business. I never had that tone with them before,” said Ferko.
Construction is set to begin next year, with some tenants possibly moving in by 2026.
“This is a rebirth. This is good, not just for the mall, this is good for our community. This is good for southwest Montana,” said Ferko.
