MUSCATINE, Iowa – Owners of the Muscatine Mall are getting more creative in their efforts to draw more customers amid a struggling economy.

A 29-acre portion of land at the mall is in the planning stages of being rezoned from C-1 neighborhood and general commercial to S-1 commercial and residential. The City Council is expected on Thursday to pass the second of three readings of an ordinance that would allow the rezoning.

“When you don’t have retailers, you have to find other ways to utilize the site,” said Kevin Koellner, one of the mall’s owners and general managers.

Steve Boka, director of Planning, Zoning and Building Safety for Muscatine, said the change would allow a “more comprehensive plan for development of the entire mall property.”

“It would allow for commercial and residential uses,” he said. “It’s based on a submitted plan to be reviewed and approved by the Planning Commission and City Council.”

Plans for the new zoning could bring opportunities, like student housing for Muscatine Community College, which Boka said may attract potential retailers and business owners.

The Muscatine Mall opened in 1971. Boka said that over the past three decades, it’s seen numerous owners.

“Over the last several years, it’s been in a state of flux where it hasn’t been as viable as others had hoped,” Boka said.

The current owners, who bought the property in 2005, come from different agencies: Koellner, president of Build to Suit Inc. in Bettendorf; Realtor Thad Denhartog; and Rodney Blackwell. All three are also the mall’s managers.

Koellner said Muscatine Community College and Muscatine City Council have been “very supportive of the project.”

Koellner and Denhartog said they are working with Colorado Elementary School, which uses the rezoning space as a pick-up and drop-off  for to coordinate another location for the same use.

“Right now the retail activity is not the best because of the economy,” Koellner said. “When the market rebounds, we’ll hopefully have more shoppers.”

By that time, he and Denhartog hope more businesses will be attracted to the area.

“We want to bring more traffic and generate business,” Denhartog said. “When the market turns, you have to get creative.”

Koellner and Denhartog are confident that as the economy starts to recover, people will not be in the “wait-and-see mentality” that’s been prohibiting interested buyers of available mall property, like the former Menard’s location.

Koellner said if the Council approves the plans, preliminary plans for design and how many units will be built in the student housing will start right away with construction starting in spring 2010.