TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The community has watched the Foothills Mall grow since 1982, until business eventually started going down around 2016.
That's when the developer Bourn Companies took over. Still, the business didn’t pick up much after. In January 2023, the building for the mall closed.
In February, inside demolition started and just last week is when we started seeing demolition from the outside. The company will be demolishing 65% of the building, and repurposing the rest for a project. The details of that project have not been released, but a website is counting down the days until the release of the plan.
Local business Pappoules has been eager to see what’s coming. Mike Cotsones opened the Foothills Mall location 18 years ago. At the beginning of the year, he reopened his restaurant after remodeling. He said business is better than ever and is optimistic that it will continue.
“We’re anticipating our business to increase 25-30 percent, which it has in the last 4 months that we’ve been open. We feel when the project is over and completed, we’ll probably be 50% and above.”
He’s got some pretty loyal customers, Rusty and Suzanne Green have been coming since it first opened 18 years ago.
“We’re here weekly or bi-weekly, that’s how much we love this restaurant,” said Suzanne Green.
They’re excited to see how business grows.
“I'm excited for Mike and Bee, we’ll probably have trouble getting in the door, but we’ll put up with it,” said Rusty Green.
They expect not only the restaurant but the area to be busy as well.
“I'm very excited. I think this is going to be a really good thing to happen to this area,” said Suzanne Green.
In the meantime, several stores will still be open during construction.
-AMC Theatres
-Applebee’s
-AT&T
-Barnes & Noble
-Bath & Body Works
-Destination Tan
-FedEx Store
-GameStop
-Outback Steakhouse
-Pappoule's
-Uniform Destination
-Whiskey Roads
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Reyna Preciado is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after graduating Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Reyna by emailing reyna.preciado@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or Twitter.
