It’s been nearly 20 years since a new enclosed mall has opened in the Dayton area. But the notion that lifestyle and outlet centers have hastened the death of enclosed malls is false, a shopping center industry official said.

While it’s true that far more lifestyle centers such as The Greene in Beavercreek and outlet centers such as the Cincinnati Premium Outlets in Mason have built in the past decade, malls still vastly outnumber their rivals and have held their own in many cases.

“The real hot trend was the open air center, the lifestyle center, in terms of what was being built. However, the regional malls and super regional malls are still continuing to fare quite well,” said Jesse Tron, spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Tron noted that existing malls such as the Dayton Mall in Miami Twp. and the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek are benefiting from the overall lack of new mall construction as retailers begin to expand operations after the recession.

“There’s very little new development in the pipeline, which means that those expanding retailers are going into current space, therefore reducing the vacancy rate,” Tron said.

While the vacancy rate varies from location to location, the malls’ vacancy rate nationwide was about 7 percent in the third quarter, he said.

At the Mall at Fairfield Commons, 99 percent of the mall’s 1.1 million square feet of retail space is occupied and only four spaces remain unfilled, according to general manager Bruce Goldsberry. Yoogurt, Toys ‘R’ Us Express and Rue 21 are two of the mall’s most recent additions.

“We’re pretty solid here,” he said

At the 1.4 million-square-foot Dayton Mall, where an expansion took place several years ago, 95 percent of retail space is filled, according to Dave Duebber, general manager. Self-serve frozen yogurt shop Tutti Frutti opened Nov. 11 and Little Treasures opened earlier this month, and DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse is locating it to a larger space inside the mall by early spring.

Tenants at the mall usually sign 5- to 10-year leases, but shorter term leases are not unheard of “mainly just because you’re not locking in, (they’re) seeing how the economy goes, how the concept goes,” Duebber said.

Middletown’s Towne Mall doesn’t appear to be doing as well with only 20 businesses open in a space designed to hold 55. Calls to the mall’s management were not returned.

After several ownership changes, the mall, originally known as Forest Fair Mall and Cincinnati Mills, is jettisoning traditional mall concepts and recruiting more mixed use tenants.

“The name ‘Mall’ will be gone,” said Karla Ellsworth, head of redevelopment and acting general manager for the center. “We’ll have some retail but we are not a mall. We don’t want to be associated with a mall.”

Ellsworth launched the first step in her overall development plan Wednesday with news that Cincinnati Sports Zone had inked a 25-year-lease to construct Cincinnati Sports Zone, a new ice arena, inside the former bigg’s.

About five new yet-to-be-named tenants are expected to open in the mall early next year, Ellsworth said.

While the rate of occupancy varies from location to location, construction of new enclosed shopping malls nationwide has leveled off and decreased slightly, according to Jesse Tron, spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers.

That bodes well for existing shopping malls, Tron said.

“There’s very little new development in the pipeline, which means that those expanding retailers are going into current space.”