The city has released some details on two proposals to redevelop Eastland Mall. Both are pretty laughable:

• Studio Charlotte Development wants to build a movie studio on the site.

The first phase of his project would be at the back of the 80-acre Eastland site, and would be a 270,000-square-foot building with eight soundstages, production offices and a film school that would partner with local universities. The building also would include a 50,000-square-foot museum that would “educate and entertain” visitors about the movie industry.

After that is built, Studio Charlotte Development envisions possibly a hotel, residential units and nearly 140,000 square feet of retail space, some of it along Central Avenue.

• Then there’s ARK Ventures’ proposal:

The focus of ARK Ventures is to build what could be called an entertainment/activity center on 27 acres of the site. This could include a 40,000-square-foot ski slope, a skateboard park, a wave pool, ice skating rink and a gymnasium. The first part of the project would also include a 60,000-square-foot office building.

“People are leaning towards entertainment in a healthy way,” said David Wagner of Wagner Murray Architects.

He said the $51 million center would be integrated into the nearby neighborhood.

“It’s like Coney Island in the 1920s, where the amusement park was built right next to the neighborhood,” he said. “We abandoned that, but there are historical models.”

Among the obvious issues here is the placement of a development offering high-end fitness activities in what is now effectively a working-class neighborhood with a lot of immigrants. Simply put, those currently living near Eastland aren’t exactly the target demographic for what ARK Ventures would offer.

Then there’s this:

Both proposals call for some sort of public investment, but neither gives a specific dollar amount.

If either of these concepts made sense, somebody would already be building them somewhere around the area. The fact that that isn’t the case suggests that either proposal only makes sense to the developers involved if government is assuming a significant portion of the risk. TIFs are a definite possibility and we have seen how well that work out for Roanoke Rapids. So, yes, be scared.

Bonus observation: Notice how there’s no mention of the Eastland area’s primary problem — that the housing stock is obsolescent — in the Charlotte Observer story.