The GenX version of The Villages?

I love the whole "they should turn malls into retirement homes for Gen X" idea but the reality is harsh. They weren't built to be lived in. Lack of windows, plumbing in all the wrong spots, poor noise isolation, poor insulation, electric is all wrong for residential use, poor structural upkeep, and the extreme cost of utilities for the common areas. Gotta keep those massive, oversized pedestrian throughfares hopping! Those last two are a big problem because a lot of malls were barely profitable even charging thousands of dollars a month in rent to a Spencer's size store in the early 90s. They also weren't built to last, and were usually given the bare minimum maintenance, and you now have a massively oversized parking lot to deal with. Add 30 years of inflation and more stringent codes and now the only path that begins to break even is condos with a 4-digit HOA fee or rental with a 5-digit rent. You would have to subsidize the building with commercial anchor tenants. A massive supermarket where Bon Ton used to be, a health clinic / pharmacy where Sears used to be, maybe some boutique shopping and food vendors in the middle. Maybe some brewpubs or live music venues in the pad spaces. But now we're hanging the idea on the very business model that failed and got us here in the first place. There are some outliers like that place in Cleveland where this works. This becomes a lot more workable if you're dealing with an older pre-mall-era structure like that ... which brings us back to renovating factories and warehouses.