Arborland Center

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Arborland Center
Arborland Northwest side.JPG
Arborland Center
Location Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Coordinates 42°15′21.8″N83°41′15.2″W / 42.256056°N 83.687556°W / 42.256056; -83.687556
Opening date1961, redeveloped 1999
Developer Taubman Centers (original mall)
Simon Property Group (1980s mall)
Owner Brixmor Property Group
No. of stores and services26
No. of anchor tenants 7
Total retail floor area 406,736 sq ft (37,787.0 m2)
No. of floors1
Public transit accessAiga bus trans.svg AAATA 4, 24, 66

Arborland Center is a shopping center located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Opened in 1961 as an unenclosed shopping mall, the center was redeveloped as a power center in 1998. [1] Current anchor stores include Marshalls, Petco, Kroger, Ulta, Old Navy, Gardner-White Furniture (that used to be a Toys "R" Us), and Bed Bath & Beyond.

History

Arborland sign on Washtenaw Ave. Arborland Sign.JPG
Arborland sign on Washtenaw Ave.

Arborland was Ann Arbor's first suburban mall, opened in the early 1960s. The original Arborland featured JCPenney, [2] Kresge, Kroger, and Montgomery Ward among its anchor stores. In 1973, the larger Briarwood Mall opened, and JCPenney moved to a newer store there. Competition from Briarwood caused Arborland to lose tenants throughout the end of the 1970s. [3] [4] E.N. Maisel & Associates purchased the mall in 1980 and enclosed its formerly open-air concourses, while replacing the vacated JCPenney store with Crowley's. [5] Despite these additions, the mall continued to lose tenants, including Montgomery Ward, Sibley's Shoes, and Pearle Vision in early 1983. [6]

Melvin Simon & Associates (now Simon Property Group) began renovations on converting the mall to discount and outlet stores in 1983, [7] which necessitated closing of the Crowley's store as it was incompatible with the discount format. [6] At the time of Simon's purchase, the center had only 13 tenants. [8] Simon attracted over 45 new stores, including new anchor stores Burlington Coat Factory, Service Merchandise, F&M, Toys "R" Us, and Marshalls, along with a food court. [3]

In the late 1990s Freed and Associates purchased it on the cheap and razed most of the structure, transforming it into a big box cluster. Toys "R" Us was rebuilt during the "de-malling" of the center, while Marshalls and the former F&M building (now occupied by OfficeMax) were retained. Freed's purchase price was around $6 million; within a decade, in 2005, Freed was said to be seeking a buyer for over $100 million. [4] Freed did shortly find a buyer for the 409,000 sq ft (38,000 m2) center. The facility was purchased by AmCap, through a joint venture with Los Angeles-based Hart Realty Advisers for a reported $102 million. [9]

The Borders in Arborland closed in April 2011. [10] [11] A year later, its space was split between Five Below and Ulta. [12] Nordstrom Rack was confirmed in 2013 for a space vacated by Circuit City in 2009. [13]

References

  1. ↑ "The Company – Timeline". Josephfreed.com. Retrieved 2008-01-18.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. ↑ Clark, Sandra (February 18, 1990). "GALLERIA'S DRAW MAY ACTUALLY BOOST OFF-PRICE THRUWAY MALL". The Buffalo News . Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  3. 1 2 Chandler, Michele (November 1, 1984). "Arborland gets off to a new start -- off-price". Detroit Free Press. p. 4a. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  4. 1 2 GARDNER, PAULA. "Owners list Arborland mall for sale". Ann Arbor Business Review. mlive.com. Archived from the original on 2008-06-14. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  5. ↑ "Arborland will become mall". Detroit Free Press. January 31, 1980. p. 4B. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  6. 1 2 Hansell, Betsey (May 5, 1983). "Crowley leaving Arborland". Detroit Free Press. p. 9D. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  7. ↑ Baacke, Cheryl (May 26, 1983). "Arborland promises big bargains". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  8. ↑ Conklin, Carole (April 11, 1985). "Can you teach old mall new tricks?". Detroit Free Press. p. 6B. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  9. ↑ "News From October 14, 2005". Real Estate Business. REBusiness. October 14, 2005. Archived from the original on June 14, 2008. Retrieved January 17, 2008.
  10. ↑ Paula Gardiner (16 February 2011). "Arborland Borders will close; downtown Ann Arbor & Lohr Road not on bankruptcy closing list". AnnArbor.com . Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  11. ↑ Angela Smith (15 April 2011). "Somber mood sets in as Borders store at Arborland plans to close Sunday". AnnArbor.com . Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  12. ↑ "Retailer Five Below opening first Ann Arbor store this week". AnnArbor.com. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  13. ↑ "Nordstrom Rack confirms it plans to open a store in Arborland". AnnArbor.com. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
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