Edens Plaza

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Edens Plaza
Edens Plaza 20180814 124652.jpg
Edens Plaza
Location Wilmette, Illinois
Coordinates 42°04′53″N87°45′23″W / 42.081409°N 87.7565172°W / 42.081409; -87.7565172
Address3200 Lake Ave, Wilmette, IL 60091
Opening date1956;68 years ago (1956)
Developer Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (original)
Joseph Freed & Associates Inc. (redevelopment)
OwnerNewport Capital Partners
Architect Welton Becket and Anderson Probst & White (original)
No. of stores and services23 [1]
No. of anchor tenants 0 (1 opening May 23, 2024)
Total retail floor area 342,858 [1]
No. of floors2
Parking1,372 [1]
Public transit access Pace #421 and #422 [2]

Edens Plaza is a strip mall in the town of Wilmette, Illinois. It was built by Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (Carson's) in 1956, and, until 2018, was anchored by one of their stores. It is located on a triangular parcel of land between Lake Avenue, Skokie Boulevard and the Edens Expressway. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Edens Plaza was one of the Chicago area's first regional shopping centers. [7] After years of stalled efforts, the shopping center underwent a major reconstruction in the mid-1990s. Along with Harlem Irving Plaza and nearby Westfield Old Orchard (which both opened the same year as Edens Plaza), it is one of the Chicago area's oldest shopping malls. [8]

History

Background

The Edens Expressway opened on December 20, 1951. Its construction accelerated the growth in the development of Chicago's northern suburbs. [9] [10] [11] Suburban growth in the 1950s spurred a boom in the construction of shopping centers throughout the Chicago area. [12]

The modern shopping mall did not come into fruition until the 1950s, following the 1950 opening of the Northgate Mall in Seattle. [13] Thus, at the time which Edens Plaza first opened, modern shopping malls were a new phenomenon.

Before the 1950s, American shopping malls were still in a primitive state of their development. [13] Early prototype shopping centers had been constructed in the United States. Wilmette's own Spanish Court (1928) was among these early shopping centers. Others included Cleveland Arcade (1890), Dayton Arcade (1902), Nashville Arcade (1902), City Market (1914), Lake View Store (1915), [13] Peachtree Arcade (1917), Country Club Plaza (1923); Market Square (1923), Camayo Arcade (1926), Rhodes Center (1937), Spring Valley Shopping Center (1939), Briarcliff Plaza (1939), Shirlington Shopping Center (1944), Bellevue Square (1946), Broadway-Crenshaw Center (1947), Nob Hill Business Center (1947), Brentwood Country Mart (1948), Casas Adobes Plaza (1948), Cameron Village (1949) and Park Forest Plaza (1949).

Construction and opening

In the early 1950s, Carson Pirie Scott & Co noticed that suburban homemakers were making trips to their downtown location less and less frequently. [14] Thus, they began constructing branch locations in the Chicago suburbs. First, Carson's constructed a 2-story 60,000 square foot location which opened in 1954, serving as the anchor tenant of Woodmar Mall in Hammond, Indiana. [15] [16] This was, in essence, proof-of-concept for the chain.[ citation needed ]

Carson's began planning to construct an outlet in the northern suburbs of Chicago after their internal studies showed $17 million in missing revenue to be found annually in the northern suburbs of Chicago. [14] Carson's quietly acquired a 20-acre triangular tract of land located between the intersections of Lake Avenue, Skokie Boulevard and the (planned) Edens Expressway between the years of 1948 and 1953. [17] [3] [4] [5] The location was selected because of its accessibility to automobiles, and because of Wilmette's relative proximity to the communities of Arlington Heights, Deerfield, Evanston, Des Plaines, Glencoe, Glenview, Golf, Highwood, Kenilworth, Lake Forest, Morton Grove, Northbrook, Northfield, Skokie and Winnetka. [3]

This was the first shopping center entirely-owned by Carson's. [3] They chose to construct a shopping center, and not a stand-alone store, partially in an effort to compete with Marshall Field’s. Marshall Fields was a partner in the construction of a shopping center of their own, located only a mile south of Edens Plaza along both Skokie Boulevard and the Edens Expressway. This was Old Orchard in the neighboring suburb of Skokie. It opened the same year as Edens Plaza with a 300,000 square foot Marshall Field's department store and retail space for 64 additional tenants. [6] [18]

The shopping center was named for its location along the Edens Expressway.

On May 5, 1953, Carson Pirie Scott announced their plans to construct a department store and retail center on the triangular tract of land they had acquired in Wilmette. [19] [20] The site was zoned residential. Therefore, on May 19, Carson's appealed to the Village of Wilmette for the site to be rezoning, allowing them to construct a "community shopping center.” [7] [17] Carson's chairman Bruce MacLeish argued that the site would never prove ideal for residential development due to traffic from the three bordering thoroughfares. [4] [7] Some Wilmette residents agreed that it made sense for the site to be zoned commercial by virtue of its location at the intersections of three arterial roadways. [4] Many who supported the proposal believed that the tax revenues generated would lessen the burden placed on the rest of the village's property owners. [7]

The proposed retail center was met by opposition from residents of the nearby 'Indian Hills' sub-division. [4] [17] They pointed-out that the rezoning would extend commercial operations along Skokie Boulevard, consequentially bringing traffic and congestion to the area. They argued that this could allow traffic to encroach upon their neighborhood's quiet streets, thus creating a hazard for their children, [4] [7] and would also decrease the property value of their residences. Those opposing the project additionally argued that it violated the spirit village's zoning ordinance and comprehensive plan, which intended to keep the character of the village primarily a single-family suburb, with retail limited to the extent that serves the population's immediate demand. [7] Carson's, however, projected that their shopping center would not have a negative impact on existing local commerce, pointing to a survey that had determined the annual retail potential of Wilmette to be $27 million, which provided ample room for additional commerce to be added upon the village's existing $15 million in annual commerce. [4] McLeish promised that he would build the best planned and most modern retail center in the nation, and displayed a scale-model of his plans. [4] [7] [17] McLeish claimed that the planned structures would occupy only 20% of the site's land, thus would not be overdeveloped. [7] [17]

Just as Carson's was preparing to abandon their plans, the Wilmette Village Board granted approval to the project on February 17, 1954. [7]

The design for Edens Plaza was created by the firm Anderson, Probst & White in collaboration with Welton Becket. [14] [20] [21] [22] [23] Edens Plaza predated other Welton Beckett-designed malls, such as Christown Spectrum Mall (1961), Walt Whitman Shops (1962), Park Plaza Mall (1970) and Worcester Center Galleria (1971). Its architectural design is reflective of Anderson, Probst & White's post-war abandonment of their previously trademark neoclassic style.

Edens Plaza cost 2.5 million dollars to construct. [20] [3] [5] [6] [14] It consisted of a Carson's department store with an attached retail structure housing 24 stores, [20] [3] [5] [24] totaling in 210,000 gross square feet of retail space. [3] The top of the buildings were adorned by bright salt-and-pepper glazed bricks trimmed by black bricks. The lower portions of the building were clad with warmer colored stone. [3] [24] There was a ten-foot canopy on the sides of the a courtyard at the main entrance of the Carson's, providing shoppers with a covered walkway. [3] [24] The two-story 118,000 square foot Carson's department store served as Edens Plaza's anchor store. [20] [3] [24]

The Carson's was the chain's fourth suburban location. [3] At the time it opened on May 19, 1956, the Carson's was one of the largest department stores in the Chicago area outside of the Loop. [3] [25] It contained 100 departments, [3] [24] including every department featured in the chain's downtown location, with the exception of the basement department (as the Wilmette location lacked a basement). [3] Counters within the store were designed in a manner to make them easily movable, thus providing flexibility that would allow the store to be more easily readjusted. [3] The store was designed to allow the addition of a third-story. [24] The store had five separate entrances, allowing customers to easily access it from any part of the shopping center's 648,000 square foot 1,700-car parking lot. [3] [5] [24] [14] The main eastern entrance fronted a large planted flagstone courtyard. [3] [24] To the left of this entrance was a section of the store themed to Alice in Wonderland, which was meant to appeal to the children in the young suburbanite families which Carson's sought as clientele. [3] There was an outdoor sales area located in the exterior arcade on the west side of the courtyard where patio, picnic, lawn and gardening products were displayed. [3] [14] The store contained an eatery named 'The Buffet'. [26]

By February 1956, leases had been signed for ten of Edens Plaza's 24 retail spaces. [5] [3] [24] Carson's opened May 19, 1956 [20] [3] [24] and the entire shopping center opened later that summer in a ceremony officiated by the Edens Expressway's namesake, William G. Eden. [3] [24] [10]

Subsequent history

At the time it opened, the area surrounding Edens Plaza was largely undeveloped. [7] By the end of the 1956, Edens Plaza and Old Orchard's impact along the stretch of Skokie Boulevard running between them was evidenced with the opening of a Fannie May retail location along that section of Skokie Boulevard. [27] In its first years, a lack of frequent public transit routes serving the shopping center proved to be an impediment to finding workers to fill job vacancies at Edens Plaza's stores. [14] In 1957 American Coach company volunteered to operate a service at the shopping center, and Edens Plaza's management applied for approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission to operate such a bus service. [14]

Building upon the experience they gained in constructing Edens Plaza, Carson's began planning the construction of a far more ambitious mall (Randhurst Mall) two years after opening Edens Plaza. [28]

The Carson Pirie Scott at Edens Plaza was, for the next three decades, one of the chain's most profitable locations, and served as one of the chain's flagship locations. [7] [29] The store was enlarged and renovated in a $600,000 remodel in 1966, which included the construction of a glass entrance rotunda. [30] [31] Additionally, in the 1960s, Edens Plaza was expanded with the addition of strip stores in its parking lot. This included the construction of a 25,000 square foot structure on the property's northern end, which would subsequently serve as the longtime site of a JoS. A. Bank Clothiers location. [7] ‘’Edens Plaza Bank’’ was chartered in March 1971 and opened as a drive-through bank in Edens Plaza that June. [7] [32] Collectively, these expansions brought center's cumulative square footage to 294,000. [33] [34] [35] In 1966 an office tower was constructed across Skokie Boulevard from Edens Plaza. [36] [37]

In 1974, Westlake Plaza, a 42,216 square foot retail center, was constructed across Lake Avenue from Edens Plaza.[ citation needed ]

Failed efforts to redevelop Edens Plaza

By the mid-1980's, the once-vibrant shopping center had become a dated relic. [7] Edens Plaza was not unique in its need for a revitalization. Several other suburban retail centers built around the same time as Edens Plaza underwent refurbishment in the 1980s and 1990s, including Seven Corners Shopping Center and Randhurst Mall. [28] [31]

Due to increased competition from shopping centers in the region, Carson's started exploring their options. They even considered moving their department store to Old Orchard and shuttering Edens Plaza. [7] The Edens Plaza site, however, was a key location. On a daily basis, more than 100,000 cars passed it on the Edens Expressway, with an additional 25,000 each on Lake Avenue and Skokie Boulevard. [29] More than 350,000 people lived within a fifteen-minute drive of Edens Plaza, and nearly a million people lived within a twenty-minute drive. [29] Thus, Carson's ultimately decided to stay at Edens Plaza, concluding that the retail center would need to be updated and refurbished. [7]

At the time, Wilmette's zoning ordinances gave Carson Pirie Scott a wide variety of options for redevelopment. The site had 66 different permitted uses, with retail and offices as parking structures, theaters, and even heliports all being permitted. [7] The zoning ordinances that were in-place at the time would have allowed nearly one-million square feet of office space to be constructed on the site of Edens Plaza. [7]

Edens Pavilion (1987)

In June 1987, after signing a letter of intent to purchase the Edens Plaza from Carson Pirie Scott & Co., Ken Tucker (the developer of Chicago Ridge Mall) put forth a $134 million redevelopment proposal that would have seen all of Edens Plaza razed and replaced by a 700,000 square foot three-level indoor shopping mall named Edens Pavilion. [7] [35] [33] [38] Edens Pavilion would have been the first new regional mall to be built in Chicago's northern suburbs since Northbrook Court opened in 1976. [33] [35] Edens Pavilion would have had a sky-lit interior. [35] It would have housed 100 stores (including a new 250,000 square foot Carson Pirie Scott and a 200,000 square foot second department store) as well as a four-screen 2,000-seat multiplex. [7] [33] A nine-story 250-room hotel would be constructed at the north-end of the property. [7] [33] [35] 3,400 parking spaces were to be provided by two planned parking garages, with an additional 284 spaces provided by surface lots. [33] [35] Tucker's company claimed that Edens Pavilion would generate $2.5 million in annual tax revenue for the village, more than double the $600,000 that Edens Plaza was generating at the time. [33] However, Tucker requested that $15 million in public funding be provided to assist in covering the costs of the project, with the likely form of such funding being through the use of tax increment financing. [33] [35] [38]

Tucker had originally intended to close on the purchase of Edens Plaza by the fall of 1987. [33] His initial timetable for construction had been to finish construction on the first of the two planned parking structures before July 1988, open the new Carson Pirie Scott location by March 1990, demolish the existing Carson's location before the end of Spring 1990, finish construction on the second parking structure and the majority of the mall before October 1991. [33] Soon after finishing construction on the mall, he planned to start construction on the hotel, which would open in late 1992. [33]

The Edens Pavilion plan was met with vocal opposition from nearby residents. [33] Much of criticism concerned the project’s enormity. Residents also expressed disapproval towards the extended hours of operation that the hotel and movie theater would require. [33] The appearance of the mall was also criticism, with residents complaining of its, “Disneyland architecture”. [33] Other concerns included the fear that a large mall would attract, “undesirables”. [33] A group of residents formed the Edens Plaza Concerned Citizens group to oppose the project. [33] Due both to the local opposition and his failure to secure tax increment financing, Tucker ultimately lost interest in the project and officially withdrew his plans in October 1987. [38]

Edens Plaza Associates plan (1989)

In January 1989, Carson Pirie Scott unveiled a $100 million plan by Edens Plaza Associates (a consortium of partners consisting of Henry A. Lay & Associates, Joseph Freed & Associates Inc. and the Edward J. DeBartolo Corp.) to transform Edens Plaza into a three-story 786,000 square-foot indoor regional mall containing 637,000 of leasable area. [7] [29] [34] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] The plan did not include a movie theater or an office tower. [43] The plan would see Edens Plaza Associates acquire the shopping center through a sale-leaseback arrangement with Carson's. [34] Edens Plaza Associates expected for the village to help finance the project by providing them $27 million in subsidies to be provided by the issuing of a $10 million note funded by tax incremental financing bonds, with the rest of the subsidies to be paid by a 10% annual interest. [40] [44] [41] [42] The consortium claimed that over the next quarter-century the mall was going to generate between $60 and $100 million in tax revenue for the village. [40] [41]

As part of the Edens Plaza Associate's plan, the existing Carson Pirie Scott department store was to be remodeled and strip stores were to be demolished. [34] The remolded Edens Plaza mall was to contain restaurants, nearly 100 stores, a food court, a multiplex, and a new 150,000 square foot second anchor store. [34] A four-story 2,750-car parking garage would be built on the western edge of the property, and a 185,000 square-foot office tower would be built at the north end of the property. [7] [34] [40] [41] [43] The proposal was not impacted by the sale of the Carson's chain to P.A. Bergner's & Co. in May of that year. [44] However, the plan was criticized for its size. [40] [44] Traffic was also a concern. [40] [44]

In October 1989, Edens Plaza Associates put forth revised plans, decreasing the proposed mall to 730,000 square feet with 590,000 square feet of leasable area. [40] [43] The revision also reduced the parking garage's height to three-stories. [40] [43] Additional landscaping was included in the revised plans, which would have seen four acres of open space created. [40] To alleviate the traffic impact, the revision had larger the entrances and exits to the complex than the previous renovation plan had, and also planned to widen both Lake Avenue and Skokie Boulevard to create additional turning lanes. [40] [43]

Despite protest from residents and a negative review from the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Wilmette Village Board voted 5–1 to grant conditional approval to the revised plans in December 1989. [42] The village drafted a financial assistance plan, which would be subject to final approval process upon the zoning board approval of the project. facilitate the planned redevelopment, and to provide Edens Plaza with specialized zoning the Village created a PCD (Planned Commercial Development) zone, referred as PCD-1, which encompasses the entirety of the shopping center's site. [45] [46] In early 1990, the village granted final approval to the redevelopment. [7] By this time, the planned mall had been given the name Edens Center, and was now slated to be 750,000 square feet and contain 583,000 square feet of retail space. [7] [29] Final designs called for the mall to be very compact, with its central interior concourse to be only 550 in length. [29] The promenade would be heavily skylit and feature pattern-cast terrazzo tile floors and landscape elements. [29] A quietly cascading water feature and glass elevator were to serve as the mall's central features. [29] Ornamentation in the malls decor was to feature elements inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie style of architecture. [29] The mall's exterior was to be clad with brick and metal, and would be surrounded by landscaping. [29] Carson's was to receive a $30 million renovation that would also increase its square footage to 200,000. [29] A 110,000 square foot Sears location had been announced as the development's second anchor. [7] A food court would be located at the northern end of the mall adjacent to the Sears. [29] The mall was slated to be managed by Forest City Development, and was scheduled to open in the Fall of 1992. [29]

In preparation for the redevelopment, tenants were evicted from retail spaces at Edens Plaza. [31] Additionally, in anticipation of the reconstruction, ‘’Edens Plaza Bank’’ vacated their location at Edens Plaza, constructing a new facility across Lake Avenue at the former site of a car wash. [47] [48] The development never followed this. Edens Plaza Associates encountered difficulties in securing financing. [49] In the fall of 1990, the project's team was in the process of finalizing agreements that would have seen investors and borrowers provide $95 million to fund the construction. [7] However, the Gulf War spurred a period of global financial insecurity causing the early 1990s recession, which caused the project's financial backing to recede. [7] [31] The development's prospects were further damaged by the August 1991 bankruptcy of Carson's parent company P.A. Bergner & Co. [49] [50] The plans were additionally complicated in late-December 1991, when Skokie granted approval for Old Orchard to construct an expansion that would add 500,000 square feet of retail space. [49] A mall at Edens Plaza would have had to directly compete with a newly expanded Old Orchard. [18] [31]

Renovation of Edens Plaza

After Edens Plaza Associate's plans fizzled, the village government decided to take the opportunity to reassess the property's zoning regulations. [7] This led to Wilmette amending its zoning ordinance on May 5, 1992. The adopted amendment required the site to redeveloped a shopping center, as the village determined that retail would generate the greatest amount of tax revenue from the site. [7] The village limited the site's permitted square footage of retail space to 344,000. This was about half of what had been permitted for the property in the 1975 and 1990 zoning ordinances. [7] In addition, up to 70,000 square feet of office space would be permitted. However, in order to guarantee that retail would remain a key component of any redevelopment, the amendment specified that office space would not be permitted on the ground-floors of buildings. [7]

In December 1992, a development team that Carson's ownership had selected to redevelop the site informed the village of its intentions to present a new plan for redevelopment in the coming year. However, in 1993, Joseph Freed & Associates Inc. (a developer which today owns the 108 North State Street project) partnered with Antonia Investments to purchase Edens Plaza. [18] Joseph Freed & Associates had been a partner in previous the Edens Plaza Associates plan. [34] [40] The sale was finalized in April 1994. [50] [51] In the sale, Carson's retained possession of their location at Edens Plaza, but forfeited their ownership of the rest of the Edens Plaza complex. [31] [50] Joseph Freed & Associates planned to undertake significantly more modest renovation of the Edens Plaza than had been previously planned. They believed the existing center had outlived its shelf-life and needed to be redeveloped. However, they did not consider acquiring Edens Plaza to be a risky endeavor, as they felt it was situated in a prime-location. [18] [31]

By the Time Joseph Freed & Associates acquired Edens Plaza, the shopping center, apart from Carson's and JoS. A. Bank, was virtually abandoned. The shopping center had become little more than a deteriorating row of vacant storefronts. [31] Chuck Fioritowas, the vice president of development at Joseph Freed, had determined there was no viable way to reformat the layout of existing retail structures. Thus, with the exception of the Carson's department store, all existing structures at Eden's Plaza would need to be demolished and replaced. [31] Joseph Freed & Associates put forth plans redevelop the plaza in 1993. They would demolish the entire shopping center, apart from Carson's, and construct three new buildings. The new buildings would be a 70,000 square foot structure on the northern end of the property, a 96,000 square foot structure on the southern end (which would adjoin the Carson's building) and a smaller building located between northern building and Carson's. [52] The plan would result in a 316,000 square foot shopping plaza. [33] [34] [39] [31] [52] [50] By tearing-down the original retail, Joseph Freed were able to reorient the storefronts of the shopping center's north end towards the Edens Expressway and the storefronts of its south end towards Skokie Boulevard, thus increasing their visibility. [31]

In December 1993, the Wilmette Zoning Board approved the project and the Wilmette Village Board voted unanimously to approve Joseph Freed & Associate's plans. [52] [37] Demolition work began in April 1994. [53] Jos. A. Bank vacated their Edens Plaza location by the end of May, ahead of the demolition of its building. [50] Renovations of Edens Plaza took place between 1994 and 1995 and cost $42 million. [18] [53] The majority of the work was completed by the end of 1994. [18]

Independently, Carson's renovated their location at Edens Plaza, as part of a cumulatively $40 million program to renovate a number of their locations. [51] The renovations at the Carson’s were more extensive than those of any of the eight Carson’s locations that were being renovated at the time. [51] Work took two years, and involved both gutting its interiors and reconstructing the exterior shell of the building. [51] Complicating the construction was the fact that the store remained opened during its renovation. [50] [18] [31] In the process, the store’s square footage was downsized to 160,000. [1] [50] [18] [31] However, Carson’s leased a two-story 35,000 square foot retail space in the structure on the northern end of the property to house a stand-alone furniture gallery. This spun-off the store’s furniture department into its own outlet, and was the first freestanding furniture store to be operated by the chain. [50] [51]

Rather than a generic power center, the refurbished Edens Plaza aimed to be more of a hybrid shopping center, an upscale open-air retail complex anchored by a department store. [31] Joseph Freed & Associates had believed that Edens Plaza's past shortcomings had stemmed from their inability to land tenants that would act as sub-anchors. Thus, in redeveloping the mall, they attracted big-box stores and category killers such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Borders Books and Music, Pet Care Superstore, United Audio Center and the aforementioned Carsons Furniture Gallery to serve that function. [18] [50] [51] Other major stores that they attracted for the center's reopening included Men's Wearhouse and Noodle Kidoodle. [31] The center was fully-leased ahead of its re-opening. [31]

The redevelopment was a finalist in the category for Retail Development of the Year at the 1995 NAIOP Awards for Excellence. [54]

Recent history

In 2005 Edens Plaza failed to receive approval from the village of Wilmette to construct a new two-story retail building and a parking structure. [55]

In early 2016 two one-story additions were approved for construction north of Carson's at Edens Plaza. These additions will add 14,727 square feet of retail to the shopping complex. [46] [56] While these new additions would eliminate a portion of the parking lot, even with the added square footage of retail space that would be created, Edens Plaza would still have excess parking spaces compared to the legal requirement. [57] These additions have yet to be constructed.

As of 2011, a populace of 284,478 people lived within a 5-mile radius of Edens Plaza. [1] As of 2020, 110,000 people lived within a 3 mile radius of Edens Plaza, with the average of their annual household incomes being $182,250. [58] Edens Plaza is Wilmette's largest taxpayer. As of 2014, Edens Plaza was estimated to generate 1.5% of the village's property tax and 25% of its sales tax. [59] In 2017, the shopping center had no vacant retail locations. [1] In January 2019, it was 92% leased. [60]

Carson's closed after parent company Bon-Ton went bankrupt. [61]

In September 2018, the Wilmette Village Board granted approval for a pediatric health center operated by NorthShore University HealthSystem and Advocate Health Care to be created in the two-story 35,000 square foot space previously occupied by the Carson's Furniture Gallery. [62] [63] It opened in November 2019. [63]

In January 2019, the shopping center was sold for $72 million to a firm owned by Newport Capital Partners. [60] In March 2019, Newport Capital Partners purchased the former Carson's space for $14 million, [64] placing the entire Edens Plaza under single ownership for the first time in decades.

In April 2019, the Village of Wilmette approved safety improvements to the intersection of Skokie Boulevard and Lake Avenue. [65]

In January 2020, Edens Plazas's new owners, Newport Capital Partners, purchased Westlake Plaza, the neighborhood center across Lake Avenue from Edens Plaza. [66]

In May 2024, Wayfair will open its first large concept store in the former Carson's. [67]

Notable events

See also

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Harlem Irving Plaza is a shopping mall located in Norridge, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The mall features over 100 stores and a food court. The mall's anchor stores are Kohl's, Nordstrom Rack, XSport Fitness, Xfinity, Best Buy, Target, Hobby Lobby, DSW, Five Below, and Dick's. It is one of the oldest shopping malls in the Chicago area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Plaza (mall)</span> Chicago-area shopping mall

The Plaza, formerly known as Evergreen Plaza, was a shopping mall in Evergreen Park, Illinois, United States. It was legally organized by Arthur Rubloff, who is also credited with coining the phrase "Magnificent Mile" describing the upscale section of Michigan Avenue north of the Chicago River to Oak Street. Rubloff secured the funding for the Evergreen Plaza from the Walgreen family who lived nearby in Beverly, Chicago. The Evergreen Plaza operated from 1952 to 2013. It featured over 120 stores, as well as a food court. The mall closed in 2013 and became an outdoor shopping center. Anchors include Whole Foods Market, and Burlington Coat Factory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosedale Center</span> Shopping mall in Minnesota, United States

Rosedale Center, commonly known just as Rosedale, is a shopping center in Roseville, Minnesota. The mall is surrounded by suburbs and close to major highways and serves a trade area population almost 2 million people, and boasts 14 million visitors annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield Wheaton</span> Shopping mall in Maryland, United States

Westfield Wheaton, formerly known as Wheaton Plaza, is a 1.7 million square-foot, two-level indoor shopping mall in Wheaton, Maryland, north of Washington, D.C. It is owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Its anchor stores include Macy’s, Target, JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Costco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yorktown Center</span> Shopping mall in Lombard, Illinois

Yorktown Center is a shopping mall located in the village of Lombard, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The mall features JCPenney and Von Maur anchors, as well as an 18-screen dine-in AMC Theatres on an outparcel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randhurst Village</span> Shopping mall in Illinois, United States

Randhurst Village is a shopping center located at the corner of Rand Road and Elmhurst Road in Mount Prospect, Illinois. The shopping center took its name from combining the names of these two roads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincolnwood Town Center</span> Shopping mall in Illinois, United States

Lincolnwood Town Center is a shopping mall located in Lincolnwood, Illinois. Opened in 1990, the mall's anchor stores are Kohl's, TheRoomPlace, and Old Navy. The mall is owned and managed by Friedman Real Estate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plaza del Lago</span> Shopping mall in Wilmette, Illinois

Plaza del Lago is a shopping center at 1515 Sheridan Road in Wilmette, Illinois, United States, which opened in 1928 as Spanish Court. It has been reported as the second-oldest shopping center in the United States designed for automobile use, and the first such center in the state of Illinois.

Woodmar Mall was an indoor shopping mall located at Indianapolis Boulevard between 165th Street and 167th Street in Hammond, Indiana. It opened in 1954 and was anchored by Carson Pirie Scott and Co. The mall was closed and demolished in 2006 except for the Carson's store which remained open until 2018 and which was demolished in 2019. The site is now occupied by the Hammond Sportsplex & Community Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minneapolis City Center</span> Shopping mall in Minnesota, United States

Minneapolis City Center is a mixed-use shopping mall on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1983 and occupies the bottom three floors of the 33 South Sixth office building. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Minneapolis City Center contains 250,000 square feet (23,000 m2) of leasable retail space. The mall was built around the pre-existing Forum Cafeteria restaurant. The building is adjacent to the Marriott Hotel City Center and connected to the Gaviidae Common shopping mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Village Crossing Shopping Center</span> Shopping center in Illinois, United States

Village Crossing Shopping Center, or simply Village Crossing, is a regional shopping center located on Touhy Avenue between the border of Skokie, Illinois and Niles, Illinois. The shopping center hosts 57 retail stores and is anchored by Jewel-Osco, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Petsmart, Michael's, Best Buy and an 18-screen AMC Theatres cinema. A parking garage connects to AMC Theatres and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Site Plan" (PDF). shopedensplaza.com. Edens Plaza. n.d. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Your search: Edens Plaza". www.pacebus.com. Pace. n.d. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Carvlin, Thomqas (May 17, 1956). "Modern Edens Plaza Lures Motorist Shopper". Chicago Daily Tribune . Chicago, Illinois.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "500 Jam Carson Zoning Hearing". Chicago American . Chicago, Illinois. July 9, 1953.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Eight Leases Signed for Edens Plaza". Chicago Daily Tribune. Chicago. February 15, 1956.
  6. 1 2 3 Fuller, Ernest (March 3, 1956). "Six Shopping Centers Will Open By 1957". Chicago Daily Tribune. Chicago.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 "What's Happening at Edens Plaza?". The Communicator. Wilmette, Illinois. Winter 1992.
  8. ↑ "Harlem Irving Plaza : Get HIP!". Archived from the original on 2013-12-22. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  9. ↑ "Col. Edens, 1988, Defies Snow to Open Highway". Chicago Daily Tribune. Chicago. December 21, 1951.
  10. 1 2 Hussey-Arnston, Kathy; Leary, Patrick (2012). Wilmette. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN   978-0-7385-9375-3.
  11. ↑ Bushnell, George D. (1997). Wilmette: A History. Wilmette, Illinois: Village of Wilmette.
  12. ↑ "Shopping Centers Springing Up". Chicago Daily Tribune. Chicago. January 1957.
  13. 1 2 3 "Home". www.mallhistory.com. Mall History. n.d. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bachii, Erwin (September 27, 1957). "Edens Center Dedicated to Better Living". Chicago Daily Tribune. Chicago.
  15. ↑ Pete, Joseph S. (5 December 2019). "Three-story Carson's building in Hammond '98 percent' likely to be razed". nwitimes.com. The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  16. ↑ Dombrowski, Louis (August 14, 1964), "Carson's Plans 3 Million Dollar Store Expansion", Chicago Tribune, p. 5, Section 3
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 "Edens Plaza 20 years old". Wilmette Comunicator. Wilmette, Illinois. Spring 1981.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Schmeltzer, John (December 1, 1994). "Edens Plaza Returns With A New Mix". Chicago Tribune. Chicago. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Department store branches". www.hestories.info. n.d. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Longstreth, Richard (September 1, 2012). "DEPARTMENT STORE BRANCHES, 1910 - 1960". www.preservenet.cornell.edu. Cornell University . Retrieved July 16, 2017. CARSON PIRIE SCOTT & CO., Skokie Boulevard & Lake Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois (Chicago) announced 5.553, opened 5.19.56 Welton Becket & Associates (Los Angeles), architects 118,000 square feet in Edens Plaza (opened 5.19.56) Welton Becket & Associates, architects Carson Pirie Scott & Co., developers 210,000 square feet, $2,500,000, 25 stores, parking 1700 cars extant, altered, in operation (7.97)
  21. ↑ "MacDonald Becket papers documenting the work of Wurdeman and Becket, Welton Becket and Associates, and the Becket Group, 1944-2011". www.ghetty.edu. Getty Center. n.d. Retrieved July 13, 2017. Edens Plaza, with Carson, Pirie, Scott, Wilmette, Illinois
  22. ↑ "May 14, 1975 - Page 5". www.newspaperarchive.com. News Journal, Chicago Illinois (1923-1977) (via newspaperarchive.com). May 14, 1975. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Graham Anderson Probst & White". www/architravel.com. ArchiTravel. n.d. Retrieved July 16, 2017. the Edens Plaza in Wilmette (designed only)
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Fuller, Ernest (May 20, 1956). "Carson's New Store Opened by MacLeish". Chicago Daily Tribune. Chicago.
  25. ↑ Longstreth, Richard (1 December 2009). "DEPARTMENT STORE BRANCHES, 1910 - 1960" . Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  26. ↑ "Carson Pirie Scott & Co". www.thedepartmentstoremuseum.org. The Department Store Museum. n.d. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  27. ↑ "Candy Maker to Open Skokie Roadside Shop". Chicago Daily Tribune. Chicago. December 13, 1956.
  28. 1 2 "Randhurst Shopping Mall". www.mtphist.org. Mount Prospect Historical Society. July 15, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Edens Center New Style Tailored From the Fabric of the North Shore. Cleveland: Forest City Development. 1989.
  30. ↑ "Expansions, Awards, Prices in Business News". Wilmette Life. Wilmette, Illinois. December 22, 1966.
  31. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Adler, Jane (March 3, 1996). "Good things in big boxes". www.freepatentsonline.com. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  32. ↑ "Edens Plaza Bank has celebration". The Wilmette News-Advertiser. Wilmette, Illinois. June 4, 1981.
  33. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Ryan, Nancy (July 29, 1917). "Wilmette mall foes hit the 'no-sale' button". Chicago Tribune. Chicago. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  34. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ziemba, Stanley (January 13, 1989). "Carsons Plans To Remake Edens Plaza And Bring It Indoors". Chicago Tribube. Chicago. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  35. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ibata, David (June 10, 1987). "Wilmette Gets Edens Plaza Plan". Chicago Tribune. Chicago. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  36. ↑ "Plan open house at Edens Center". Wilmette News. Wilmette. October 20, 1966.
  37. 1 2 Brettschneider, Bob (December 9, 1993). "Edens Plaza plans win Zoning Board Approval". Wilmette Life. Wilmette.
  38. 1 2 3 Enstad, Robert (October 24, 1987). "Edens Plaza Expansion Plan Dies". Chicago Tribune. Chicago. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  39. 1 2 Ibata, David (June 30, 2017). "Sale Won't Stop Carsons' building". www.chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 30, 2017.[ dead link ]
  40. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Hunt, Maria (October 18, 1989). "Revision Of Edens Plaza Plan Still Gets Panned In Wilmette". Chicago Tribune. Chicago. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  41. 1 2 3 4 Ibata, David (February 1, 1989). "Wilmette's cost for mall work may top 27 million". Chicago Tribune. Chicago. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  42. 1 2 3 Hunt, Maria (December 21, 1989). "Wilmette Oks Edens Plaza Plan". Chicago Tribune. Chicago. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  43. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Open letter from Wilmette Village President John Jacoby to Wilmette Residents (October 10, 1989)
  44. 1 2 3 4 Ibata, David Ibata; Storch, Charles (10 May 1989). "SALE WON'T STOP CARSONS'BUILDING". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  45. ↑ "ZONING ORDINANCE April 1, 2014 Amended through April 14, 2015" (PDF). www.wilmette.com. Wilmette Village Government. April 14, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  46. 1 2 "MEETING MINUTES ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 7:30 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS" (PDF). www.wilmette.com. Village of Wilmette. February 23, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  47. ↑ "Edens Plaza Bank wants to build three-story building on Lake Avenue". Wilmette Life. Wilmette, Illinois. July 20, 1989.
  48. ↑ "Edens Bank denied permission for three-story building". Wilmette Life. Wilmette, Illinois. September 14, 1989.
  49. 1 2 3 Charles, Hayes (December 20, 1991). "Major Expansion For Old Orchard". Chicago Tribune. Wilmette. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  50. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Podmolik, Mary Ellen (April 5, 1994). "Edens Is Sold: Carson's Is Staying". Chicago Sun-Times . Chicago.
  51. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Schmeltzer, John (April 14, 1994). "$40 million Carsons rehab". Chicago Tribune. Chicago.
  52. 1 2 3 Brettschneider, Bob (December 23, 1993). "It's unanimous: Edens plan approved by Village Board". Wilmette Life. Wilmette, Illinois.
  53. 1 2 Ligas, Anne Marie (April 21, 1994). "Edens renovation begins". Wilmette, Life. Wilmette.
  54. ↑ "ABOUT US". www.11eastpartners.com. 11 East Partners. n.d. Retrieved July 16, 2017. NAIOP Awards for Excellence - Edens Plaza Shopping Center- 1995 Retail Development of the Year Finalist
  55. ↑ Nesvig, Bruce (February 24, 2005). "Plaza parking plan is stalled". Wilmette Life. Wilmette, Illinois.
  56. ↑ "MEETING AGENDA ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS" (PDF). www.wilmette.com. Village of Wilmette. May 18, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2017. The proposed tenant space is in one of the two one-story additions on the north side of Carson's that were approved early in 2016.
  57. ↑ "NOTICE OF MEETING of the APPEARANCE REVIEW COMMISSION OF THE VILLAGE OF WILMETTE Monday, March 7, 2016 at 7:30 P.M. Second Floor Training Room" (PDF). Wilmette, Illinois. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  58. ↑ "JLL closes sale of suburban Chicago retail center". www.us.jll.com. JLL. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  59. ↑ "VILLAGE OF WILMETTE, ILLINOIS ANNUAL BUDGET FISCAL YEAR 2014 JANUARY 1 – DECEMBER 31, 2014" (PDF). www.wilmette.com. Village of Wilmette. 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2017. Edens Plaza is the largest taxpayer in Wilmette. The assessed valuation of this property comprises over 1.5% of the entirety of Village's property tax base and the retail operations contribute nearly 25% of all sales tax.
  60. 1 2 Ecker, Danny (4 January 2019). "Wilmette's Edens Plaza sells for $72 million". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  61. ↑ Routliffe, Kathy (24 April 2018). "Customers mourn loss of Edens Plaza Carson's; local governments express optimism despite possible tax loss". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  62. ↑ Meadow, Jonah (27 September 2018). "Edens Plaza Pediatric Care Center Approved By Wilmette Board". Wilmette-Kenilworth, IL Patch. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  63. 1 2 Cullotta, Karen Ann (13 November 2019). "Pediatric care center opens at Edens Plaza in Wilmette". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  64. ↑ "Former Edens Plaza Carson's Sold For $14 Million". Wilmette-Kenilworth, IL Patch. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  65. ↑ Cullotta, Karen Ann (30 April 2019). "After 118 accidents, Wilmette officials approve $1.5 million project at problematic intersection". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  66. ↑ "JLL closes sale of Westlake Plaza retail center in Wilmette". REJournals. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  67. ↑ Swidler, Francie (28 June 2023). "A first look at the new Wayfair store in Wilmette, which now has an opening date". NBC Chicago. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  68. ↑ "COPS AND ROBBERS AT EDENS PLAZA, 1957" (PDF). www.wilmettehistory.org. Wilmette Historical Society. 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
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