John Brackney, former Arapahoe County Commissioner and a founding father of the city of Centennial, said he’s disappointed it’s looking more and more likely the old Macy’s and Sears buildings will become infill apartments.

“Building a bunch of apartments there instead of a community amenity bothers me,” said Brackney, who has lived within one mile of the area for his whole life. “People gravitate to regional centers, and don’t want to go to downtown Denver all the time.”

Brackney watched the Southglenn mall open in 1974 – he was 8. It was built by Jordan Perlmutter & Co., which also built Southwest Plaza and Northglenn Mall. Its anchors were The Denver (Denver Dry Goods), Sears and May D&F. The May D&F later rebranded to Foley’s. The huge Joslins there opened in 1994.

“I basically grew up at the mall, they had an arcade and pet store and this weird magic place on the second floor,” he said. “That was our home town, and a ton of us are very loyal to it.”

He remembers before the city of Centennial was formed by a vote in 2000, the mall used to advertise it’s 3.8% sales tax – lower because it was in unincorporated Arapahoe County.

It thrived until the shiny new Park Meadows Shopping Center opened in 1996, then sales numbers began to drop.

“We’re lucky we formed Centennial – there’s no way the county could have saved Southglenn,” Brackney said. “I tell you walking it was strange – it was almost a ghost town and truly empty.”

After serving as Arapahoe County Commissioner from 1997-2003, Brackney became the president and CEO of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce through 2014.

“The special district was formed to pay for all the renovations” to turn the mall into the outdoor, mixed-use property that is now the Streets of Southglenn, he said. Alberta Development Partners LLC handled the re-development, which opened in 2009 after being closed close to three years.

But Macy’s and Sears continued to struggle: “I don’t know how Macy’s stayed open as long as it did. Every time I went in there, unless it was December, there were hardly any customers and staff.”

Brackney currently works for Webolutions marketing company.