Redlands Mall comes down after 15 years empty — with no new plan for what replaces it

Community Forward Redlands: Crews began tearing down the former Redlands Mall the week of March 16, starting with the old Denny's building at Orange Street and Redlands Boulevard. The 173,000 sf indoor center opened in 1977, lost its tenants through the 2010s, and has sat largely vacant since — changing hands six times since 2000.

Town Square Development Group bought the site in November 2025 from Village Partners, which had a city-approved 2022 plan for up to 700 housing units and about 65,000 sf of retail that never broke ground. Town Square is demolishing under the existing environmental clearance and hasn't submitted a new redevelopment plan — so the downtown's biggest empty lot is finally clearing without a confirmed picture of what fills it.