[alistairSH]

#1 is a mixed bag. Access by car is "easy", but traffic can be awful.

#3 is a negative. The separation from housing makes them LESS suitable for office space.

Put the two together, and even if the mall is redeveloped into nice office space with room to walk around, people outside the mall have to drive to do so. For people on the other side of those major arteries, they literally have to drive 1-2 blocks to walk around the mall (or former mall).

None of which is to imply we shouldn't redevelop malls into mixed use "urban" hubs. But, we shouldn't assume that redeveloping the mall in isolation will succeed. The surrounding area might need significant changes to fully utilize the former mall zone.

[bobthepanda]

#3 is a negative if you decide to only build office space on the mall property. But one can choose to build both residential and office space. Like this actual project: https://www.gglo.com/project/northgate-mall-redevelopment/

Neighbors in single family suburban homes are more likely to be NIMBYs and block development, so insulation from them is a feature, not a bug.