$30M Chesapeake Square Mall redevelopment underway

Demolition began last week on sections of Chesapeake Square Mall as part of a $30 million redevelopment project of the 36-year-old indoor mall off Interstate 664 in Chesapeake.

Stores are still open at the mall while Virginia Beach-based real estate development firm Kotarides is demolishing the former Burlington Coat Factory Space and several former anchor stores on the west end of the property — including Sears, Macy’s and JCPenney — to make room for replacement retail space, including a grocery store and a sporting goods store, as well as new outparcels.

Chris Good, director of commercial properties for Kotarides, says demolition work at the mall should wrap up in the middle of May. Afterward, site prep work will begin for the redevelopment project’s construction phase, likely to begin in October. Good said he couldn’t name the grocery or sporting goods tenants, citing client confidentiality.

Kotarides purchased the mall, which was built in 1989, for $12.9 million in 2018, seeking to revive it as a destination regional mall. Currently home to around 30 retails and restaurants, the mall property is about 1 million square feet, including roughly 700,000 square feet of leasable space.

The remainder of the mall — including the 12-screen Cinemark XD-12 movie theater and a Target store  — will remain open during the demolition and construction work.

The redevelopment project should be complete sometime between summer and fall 2026, Good anticipates.