A Canadian firm says it's going against the grain in buying the company that owns Westroads and Oak View Malls.
Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management purchased about 125 malls throughout the U.S. for $15 billion, including Omaha's Westroads and Oak View Malls.
The Canadian firm hopes to revitalize the area and make it more of a live, work, and play environment.
Mark Norman from the Greater Omaha Chamber says the new company will have to redesign the space and experience of local malls.
"This is an opportunity to kind of re-imagine those malls and those spaces and you're going to have to bring in some non-traditional retail uses in that area to help fill the space and to generate the traffic," said Norman.
Norman says adding more entertainment will be crucial.
"If you look at Westroads again, they're going to have the Top Golf that's going to go in there and that's going to be a huge driver of traffic in that area," added Norman.
Some shoppers outside of Oak View Mall told 3 News Now they're excited about the changes and are hoping to see a greater variety of stores, a better food court, and more lounge areas.
Brookfield Asset Management has not disclosed what changes may take place.
Some businesses inside Oak View Mall spoke to 3 News Now and said they haven't received any information from either company about what is going to happen to their stores. Some business owners weren't even aware the malls had been sold.
