NORFOLK, Va. — City leaders will decide on Tuesday whether H&M should be paid around $1.5 million so the store can terminate their lease early in anticipation of the MacArthur Center's June 30 closure.
The fast fashion store is among the handful of businesses still operating in the MacArthur Center Mall. The current Norfolk council agenda indicates that the city owes H&M an early termination fee.
H&M's current lease included renewal options through 2043, according to a resolution in the city council's agenda. The proposed resolution, if passed, would reschedule H&M's lease termination date to Sept. 30, 2026.
Watch previous coverage: MacArthur Center closing in June to make way for city of Norfolk to redevelop
The MacArthur Center will close this summer to allow the city to redevelop the center.
This redevelopment is meant to prepare the site for its next phase by including new market-rate homes, additional hotel rooms, street-level retail and neighborhood street networks connected by open spaces.
"I was really surprised. The news came out on Friday. I had been home sick for a week," said Beth Dryer, the owner of 757 Creative ReUse Center, a nonprofit located inside the mall.
Dryer says the mall was in decline when she moved there in 2023, but offered bigger space, more parking and was ADA compliant, all at an affordable price.
Now she's looking for a new location and says it will be expensive.
"At least $20,000 just to physically move," she told News 3 on Tuesday, adding about the potential H&M payout, "at this point, we have not been offered any financial assistance to relocate."
DJ Bee, who owns another store in the mall, Freshtopia and Fresh Radio says he wasn't told about the closure.
"We don't know what the help is," he said.
But the city's Department of Economic Development tells News 3 that businesses were informed of the closure on Friday before the media release about it went out.
A letter to tenants from mall General Manager Jim Wofford, dated February 6, says, "our priority is to support you through this transition. To ensure your questions and concerns are addressed, we are offering one-on-one tenant meetings beginning February 6, 2026."
Stores were also given a list of answers to Frequently Asked Questions, including that stores must close by June 27 and must be out by July 14. Also, where they can find resources to help them move out of the mall and find a new location.
During his 2024 State of the City address, Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander outlined his vision for the future of the MacArthur complex: a 400-room hotel, high-rise apartments, a pedestrian promenade, and a new city market with indoor/outdoor space.
"This vision reflects adopted downtown planning goals and the City's broader commitment to a walkable, active and connected urban core," the city wrote in a press release.
MacArthur Center has faced dwindling patronage over the years, with more and more stores leaving the once-popular downtown mall. The 1.1 million square-foot mall opened in 1999 with space for more than 100 stores and shops.
