I was supposed to add this paragraph to my reply to the Ever Gotesco post, but I decided to cut it out and put it somewhere else, here:
I am not one to glorify mall culture here, but I hope if they (the struggling Ever malls) do end up being abandoned, someone can just turn them into quasi-social spaces where people can hang out without spending money. Heck, tying it back to my rants about public transport, why not someone can turn those dying malls into transportation hubs with a quasi-social space on top? If we're going to be transferring from one transport mode to another anyways, why not have a spot to rest na rin? Lalo na kung mejo mahaba ang pila sa jeep na kailangan mong sakyan pauwi.
It's one tactic that SM Malls use in their favor, and other malls struggle to replicate (basically since SM malls force themselves to be the area's hub--looking at you, MoA). But in certain areas kasi, it's other malls who have the hub (Sta Lucia grand east, for example, or possibly Ever Ortigas). So yeah! It'd take a lot of money though, as you'd have to buy up that land, in a good location, and to recoup that money, well, you'd better maximize the area's commercial potential (kinda the MO of SMDC, I think). IDK, I'm rambling here, sorry.