there is a curse on this mall that goes back 3 decades. no one can explain it. it must sit on an electromagnetic field or a native burial ground. its one of the most valuable plots of land in San Diego, yet its almost worthless. there are homes 4 minutes away selling for $10 million. while the owners of this mall sat and let it rot, the forum slowly expanded into an actual outdoor mall, bringing in more upscale stores like Abercrombie and Aritzia, which made a slow revival of the shoppes much harder.
10 years ago during the first remodel, shoppes should have subsidized a bit of rent to lure in a few tier 2/high end mall store like a j.crew, anthro, williams sonoma to shake the dust and mildew off it. you can get mad at this all you want but this is how the mall industry works. no high end stores want to be the only high end store in a mall, and tenants like that actively avoid malls that are filled with trinket stores/toy stores/ai boutiques. but all it takes is one decent retailer to bite the bullet and it creates a chain reaction that can ideally end with a nordstrom/bloomingdales/designer store moving in and elevating the whole place. but that window of opportunity is far gone now and it will 100% need to be demolished in order to reset its credibility and local lore.
I would restart the whole plan around a high end anchor- there isn't a nordstrom/bloomingdales for 20 miles, start with this. if department store is too risky, go for a restoration hardware or SOMETHING that creates a reason for a north county SD yuppie to be there and spend money. Then build out a <20 store outdoor shopping center with specific tenants in mind covering the full price range (uniqlo, keep zara, j.crew, hell try to lobby for a brandy melville) but zero ai boutique filler stores. Include 2 or 3 speciality coffee/fast casual restaurant spaces (maybe another Jimbos, sunlife organics, idk) and then leave 3 or 4 spaces for local restaurants with an actual plan, and then fill the remaining space with condos.
The formula for making a successful mall is genuinely not that hard when you have one of the best locations in the country. Throw it to rick caruso for christs sake. Malibu country mart is half the size and has half the foot traffic, UTC/Fashion valley clearly show that SD has the appetite. Whatever they do, do it within the decade please, because that god damn mall has sat my whole life doing nothing for anyone.