Would you live at the mall in Natick?
I know I wouldn’t.
The subject, of course, comes to mind with the Globe’s story how the bankrupt owner of the Natick Collection will start auctioning off condos at the deluxe and mostly empty Nouvelle.
Back during the heady days of the boom, General Growth rolled out plans for downtown style condo high-rise as part of its plans to transform the tired Natick Mall into the upscale Natick Collection.
The revamped mall, packed with all sorts of glitzy stores, opened up just as the economy began to slow and the luxury tag began to quickly lose its luster.
The condos have not fared so well either, with just 37 of 215 units sold.
OK, maybe it’s a guy thing, but I never really got this idea. My wife and I live in an old and slowly improving fixer-upper near Natick center and I do my best to avoid frequent trips to the traffic clogged, retail-crazed strip on Route 9.
I generally hate malls of all shapes and sizes – even the air makes me feel a little sick/trapped.
My wife, by contrast, loves malls. In fact, when we went to check out the revamped Natick Collection, I asked her what she thought of the Nouvelle and the idea of living at the mall.
I was floored by her response. Basically, she’s do it in a minute.
Anyway, if suburban mall shopping is your thing, then the Nouvelle is your project, for it sits right in the middle of all that Route 9 retail madness.
And after spending years talking about Back Bay like prices, with top units supposedly set to fetch more than a $1 million, the developers are singing a different song now.
Forty-two units will hit the auction block on Oct. 4. The minimum bids range from $160,000 to $315,000.
Good luck, but you won’t find me there. I’ll stick with my Natick fixer-upper.
