From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Summit Place Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in Waterford Township, Michigan, United States. The 1,400,000 square-foot retail center was completed in several phases between 1963 and 1993, and is currently managed by Namco Corporation of California.[citation needed] Summit Place Mall is over fifty percent vacant,[1] and has been classified as a "dead mall".[2] Currently, the mall features four anchor stores include JCPenney, Kohl's, Macy's, and Sears. Two additional anchor stores, Montgomery Ward and Service Merchandise, have closed and are currently vacant.
[edit] History of Summit Place Mall
- 1963: Summit Place Mall made its debut as the "Pontiac Mall", a small regional one-story shopping center with approximately 30 tenants.[1][3] Anchoring the original mall were Hudson's (including a Hudson's Budget Store), Montgomery Ward, and Kresge. At that point, the mall was approximately 500,000 square feet.[citation needed]
- 1973: Sears built a large two-story store on the north end of the site. While the store was not yet attached to the mall, the mall would later connect to it.[citation needed]
- 1988: JCPenney opened a 2-floor anchor store directly west of Montgomery Ward, and a small connecting wing was completed to attach the new store to the existing mall. Construction began on an expansion which would open a year later.[citation needed]
- 1989-1990: The mall's new expansion opened to great fanfare. Now dubbed Summit Place, the mall had grown to 1.4 million square feet and more than 200 tenants. The expansion continued north from the JC Penney wing, before curving northeasterly to a new Kohl's (which opened in 1988 as MainStreet), and then north again, connecting to the Sears that opened in 1973. Furthermore, the new wing also featured a food court called Picnic Place, which featured a wide variety of restaurants and an arcade. It was also around this time that Service Merchandise would open next to Hudson's, giving the mall a total of six anchors.[citation needed]
- 1991: Summit Place's developers opened "Summit Crossings" (also known as "Summit West"), a strip mall on the west side of the site, anchored by Office Max, Sports Authority, Target, and Farmer Jack. As of 2007, only Target and Office Max remain in this strip mall, although Target will be moving to a new store in the near future.[citation needed]
- 2000: Montgomery Ward declared bankruptcy and closed all stores. The store would see periodic use as a paintball arena, and would also host various mall events, but largely it would remain vacant, Also Hudson's renovates itself, replacing the former restaurant with offices.[citation needed]
- December, 2005: Ruby Tuesday closes.[6]
- September 2006: Marshall Field's is renamed Macy's after parent company May Co. is purchased by Federated Department Stores (now Macy's, Inc.).[7]
[edit] Summit Place redevelopment
In 2002, Summit Place was purchased by current owners Namco, who acquired the mall from General Growth Properties. Namco announced plans to change the mall's name to "Festivals of Waterford", adding entertainment venues such as a water park, a 60,000 square-foot family entertainment center, and a big box bookstore.[3] Namco's plans later fell through due to lack of financing.[citation needed]
Recent state legislative action has resulted in a law that will allow the owners of Summit Place to receive a tax abatement for redevelopment of the site.[1] The proposed redevelopment calls for demolition of half of the mall, and the rezoning of much of the property to include housing.[10] In the spring of 2007, the Township of Waterford, along with consultants Harley Ellis Devereaux and JJR, began the planning stages for re-use of the land. Possibilities include residences, a minor league baseball facility and ice rink.[citation needed] In August, Waterford Township explored the creation of a "Corridor Improvement Authority," or CIA, to look into future uses for the property.[11]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
