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In the United States, greyfield land (or grayfield) is a formerly-viable retail and commercial shopping site (such as regional malls and strip centers) that has suffered from lack of reinvestment and been "outclassed" by larger, better-designed, better-anchored malls or shopping sites. These particular greyfield sites are also referred to as "dead malls" or "ghostboxes" if the anchor or other major tenants have vacated the premises leaving behind empty shells.[1] The term was coined in the early 2000s from the "sea" of empty asphalt concrete that often accompanies these sites.
The "greyfield" term may also be applied more broadly to urban infill or commercial locations where underuse or outdated (non-retail) uses hamper an otherwise valuable real estate asset. An example would be a formerly industrial waterfront site that is potentially valuable as a mixed use/residential site as it is being encroached upon by residential sprawl, or other economic or redevelopment pressures. In this example, the revitalization of the greyfield may require zoning changes and/or a public-private partnership of some kind to achieve the highest and best use.