Retrofit Atlas

Malls · South Carolina

Inlet Square Mall

Imported, unreviewedStatus not verifiedGarden City, SC

Inlet Square Mall opened 1980‑1990, 434k sf, now only Belk and Planet Fitness remain amid anchor losses in Garden City · summary, model-written

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Inlet Square Mall
Inlet Square Mall. Photo: Mike Kalasnik from Charlotte, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Site profile10 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Former anchors
JCPenneyThis site: JCPenney wikipedia · all sites with this
Finance and pipeline
On FacebookThis site: …https://www.facebook.com/349221991790546 overture · all sites with this
Website aliveThis site: …http://www.inletsquaremall.com overture / http check · all sites with this
Place
30,000+ vehicles a day on an adjacent roadThis site: 36,500 on HWY 17 BYP fhwa-hpms · all sites with this
Fast-growing county (8%+ 2018–23)This site: 15% census-acs · all sites with this
Grocery within 800 mThis site: 2 stores openstreetmap · all sites with this
High hurricane riskThis site: Very High fema-nri · all sites with this
High natural hazard risk (FEMA NRI)This site: Relatively High; hurricane fema-nri · all sites with this
Lower-income tract (< $50k)This site: $41,691 census-acs · all sites with this
Walkable block group (EPA ≥ 12)This site: …index 12 epa-walkability · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

StatusStatus not verifiedWikidata reported

Securitised debt and public filers

Filings (2001 to date) that name “Inlet Square Mall” and “Garden City” (1 hits, first 1 sampled). No commercial-mortgage trust names this mall in the sample, which does not rule out a securitised loan. Text matches, not a title search. Open the search · all trusts.

KindFilerFilingsDatesForms
Public owner (weak)RAIT Financial Trust12016-02-25 to 2016-02-258-K 1

Site context

FEMA flood zoneX · AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARDFEMA NFHL
EPA-regulated facilities within 500 m13: ATLANTIC UROLOGY CLINICS, LLC; HOME2 SUITES AT INLET SQUARE MALL; INLET SQUARE BODY SHOP; INLET SQUARE MALL REDEVELOPMENT - PHASE I; INLET SQUARE MALL REDEVELOPMENT PHASE 2EPA FRS
Census tract 450510514063,665 people, 2,567 per sq mi; median household income $41,691; median gross rent $1,300; 18% renters; 10.7% vacant units; 0.0% commute by transitACS 2023 5-year
Walkability (EPA, block group)index 12 of 20; 165 intersections per sq mi; no transit stop within the EPA search radius; land-use mix 0.77; 17,764 jobs within 45 min by car; 12% of households without a carEPA Smart Location
Within a 10–15 minute walk (800 m)3 of 6 daily needs: 2 grocers, 0 schools, 0 parks or playgrounds, 4 health, 0 civic, 28 food and drink; 0 cycleway segments, 1 sidewalk-tagged segmentsOpenStreetMap
Opportunity ZonenoHUD
Housing permits, Horry County (SC), 202460 units in 5+ unit buildings, 2 in 2–4, 7,269 single-family; 2023: 129 in 5+Census BPS
Social vulnerability (CDC SVI 2022, tract)overall percentile 0.64; socioeconomic 0.71; housing and transport 0.88; 29% below 150% of poverty; 9% of households with no vehicleCDC/ATSDR
Other atlas sites nearby0 within 10 km, 1 within 25 kmcomputed
Overture Mapsplace Inlet Square Mall (shopping_mall, confidence 0.98, from Overture, Overture-signals, meta); building footprint 8,583 m²Overture (CDLA-Permissive 2.0)
Website and socialwww.inletsquaremall.com (alive); archived 2002–2026 (Wayback) · social: facebookOverture / Internet Archive
Attention: Wikipedia page views33,111 since 2015; 2,586 in the last 12 months (-23% vs the prior 12); peak 2024-01 with 537Wikimedia
Tract change 2013–2023population +20% (3,062 → 3,665); median income +14% ($36,500 → $41,691); renters 23% → 18%; median home value +56% ($90,000 → $140,200)Census ACS 5-year
Natural hazard risk (FEMA National Risk Index, tract)relatively high overall (score 92.4); expected annual loss $3.1M; high: hurricane; community resilience relatively moderateFEMA NRI
Tax-credit housing within 1 kmnoneHUD LIHTC
Retail trade in the county, 2025 (BLS QCEW)26,152 jobs in 1,836 establishments; average annual pay $37,251; employment location quotient 1.81; employment -0.1% on the yearBLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 44-45, private
Jobs located in the tract, 20221,302 jobs; 420 in retail trade, 274 in accommodation and food (workplace blocks summed to tract 45051051406)Census LEHD LODES8 WAC 2022
Upward mobility (Opportunity Atlas, 2010 tract)children of low-income (25th percentile) families reached the 40th income percentile as adults; 1.2% incarcerated at the 2010 count (239 children in the sample); born 1978–83, measured 2014–15Opportunity Insights
Food access (USDA FARA 2019, 2010 tract)not a low-access tract at 1 mile; 0% of residents more than 1 mile from a supermarket; poverty rate 13.2%; median family income $50,479; 182 SNAP householdsUSDA ERS
SchoolsHorry County School District (PK-12); 0 public schools within 1 mileNCES EDGE
Elevation25 ft above sea level at the site pointUSGS 3DEP
Storm events in the county, 2016-2025284 county-logged events: 127 thunderstorm wind, 67 flash flood, 46 hail, 20 tornado; $18,037,500 property damage reported; 3 direct deaths; forecast-zone events (most flood, winter and heat) not countedNOAA Storm Events
Homes for sale in ZIP 29576, 2026-09median list price $449,925 (+5.4% on the year); 440 active listings; median 78 days on market; 25% with a price cutRealtor.com Research
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 20231,858 establishments (+12%); 26,959 jobs (+30%)Census CBP
Housing market in the countytypical home value $319,809 (+0% 1 yr, +21% 5 yr); typical rent $1,709/mo (+2% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
House price index, tract, 2017148 (2000 = 100); -9.1% 1 yr, +14% 5 yr, -33% 10 yrFHFA
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)36,500 vehicles a day on HWY 17 BYP (principal arterial, 4 lanes); 1,496 trucks; 35 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

Inlet Square Mall opened as a single‑level, 434,482‑square‑foot regional shopping center in 1980 (per the record) or 1990 (per the narrative excerpt). It originally housed about 45 stores and services but, as of December 2023, only two major tenants remain: Belk and Planet Fitness, after losing anchors such as Kmart, JCPenney, Stein Mart, and Books‑A‑Million.

Why. The record attributes the decline to store closures and the loss of major and junior anchors; no explicit causes such as competition, debt, or demolition are stated.

Where it stands. The mall’s current status is listed as unknown, and the record does not identify who controls or owns the property.

For a planner

  • No specific precedents or policy tools are documented in the record.
  • Open questions include the site’s ownership, zoning status, and potential reuse options.
  • The record notes county population growth of 15% from 2018‑2023 as a market signal.

For a developer

  • Site size: 434,482 sf (single‑level).
  • Control and entitlement stage are unknown per the record.
  • No flood, transit, or environmental constraints are mentioned.
  • Market signal: surrounding county grew 15% 2018‑2023.

What we do not know yet

  • Current status and ownership are unknown.
  • Exact opening year conflicts (1980 vs. 1990).
  • Detail on remaining tenant mix, lease terms, and vacancy rates is missing.
  • Any environmental, flood, or infrastructure constraints are not provided.
  • The data quality is thin, relying on a single source.

Generated by nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b on NVIDIA API via Hermes CT from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

Similar sites

Elsewhere on the web

Retail history: Inlet Square Mall on DeadMalls.com photos, field notes and visitor memories since 2000; matched by name and state only, check the city; nothing copied here

Pages with photos

Search images: Google · Bing · Commons · references: ULI case studies · Google Scholar

Multifamily screen

  • county grew 15.0% 2018–23

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

History and original facts

Opened1980Wikidata
AnchorsStein Mart, JCPenney
CountyHorry County
Census division5 · South Atlantic
NotesWikipedia categories: Demolished shopping malls in the United States

Not yet recorded: acres, GLA, original developer, what is there now, retrofit year. Know it? Tell us.

Background

Inlet Square Mall was a single-level, 434,482-square-foot (40,364.7 m2) regional shopping center located in Garden City, South Carolina, United States. Opened in 1990, the mall originally housed 45 stores and services, but as of December 2023, it only has two major tenants remaining: Belk and Planet Fitness. The mall has encountered multiple difficulties due to store closures, including major anchors like Kmart and JCPenney, as well as junior anchors Stein Mart and Books-A-Million.

Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.

Timeline

  1. 1980 Opened (Wikidata)

Sources

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