MUMBAI: Falling footfalls in Bhandup's Magnet Mall , one of Mumbai's biggest, has forced its developer to shut down and revamp the10 lakh sq ft premises into an office-cum-retail complex.Over the past few years, several malls across the country, including Mumbai, have been converted into commercial or residential complexes because of poor business. But market sources said Magnet is the largest in the country so far to take on a different avatar.The mall business is considered uncertain because of high gestation and high investment. Only a few have succeeded. Property market sources said as ma ny as 11 malls shut down in the country between 2010 and 2015.Magnet Mall, located on the busy L B S Marg in Bhandup, is controlled by Mumbai-based developer Neptune Group. It started operations in 2012. Footfalls dropped by 50% in Magnet Mall, which started in 2012, because of online shopping and further worsened after Easy Day , a large hyper market occupying 60,000 sq ft on the premises, closed. “Retailers were bleeding because of e-commerce, so we took a conscious decision to overhaul the entire space for offices and some retail," said Neptune Group CMD Nayan Bheda.The developer, who will pump in Rs 100 crore to refurbish the premises after it was shut down last year, said half the area will be now sliced into small offices and sold. The remaining space will be sold to clients looking for larger offices while a portion will be retained for retail. “We have planned small boutique offices," said Bheda, who will launch the new project later this week.In 2009, D B Realty shelved its plan to building the country's largest mall in Dahisar (2.5 million sq ft) and converted it into a residential project.Two years ago, Nirmal Mall in Mulund, which is close to the Magnet Mall, also virtually shut down after developer Nirmal Lifestyle said it became unviable to run it because of rentals and maintenance charges. The land will be utilized for a residential project.Kandivli's Raghuleela Mall, Bhandup's Dreams Mall, Santa Cruz's Milan Mall, Vashi's Centre One and Atria Mall at Worli are some of the retail complexes which failed to take off.A handful of good malls continue to perform extremely well across the country, but many average and poor quality malls have floundered, said Pankaj Renjhen , MD, retail services, JLL India.A JLL report said for the first time in India's mall history, a net negative supply of retail space was observed in 2016 due to closure of some malls coupled with limited new supply. “While five malls shut last year, 10 others changed their usage to offices, educational institutes, shopping clusters, hospitals and banquet halls, resulting in 3.5 million sq ft of retail space (across 15 malls across India) getting withdrawn from the operational stock," it said.Last year, the total net absorption of retail space in India was 2.7 million sq ft with Delhi-NCR absorbing about 1 million sq ft, followed by Mumbai at 6 lakh sq ft and Bengaluru at 4 lakh sq ft. “While 13 malls were completed in 2016, 15 malls were withdrawn from the operational stock,“ said JLL.