Summit Place Mall

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Summit Place Mall
Facts and statistics
Location Waterford Township, Michigan, United States
Opening date 1963
Developer ?
Management Namco Corporation
No. of stores and services approx. 20, originally nearly 200
No. of anchor tenants 6 (3 open, 3 vacant)
Total retail floor area 1,400,000 sq ft (130,000 m2)
No. of floors 1 (2 in Sears, 3 in Macy's)

Summit Place Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in Waterford Township, Michigan, United States. The 1,400,000-square-foot (130,000 m2) retail center was completed in several phases between 1963 and 1993, and is managed by Namco Corporation of California. Summit Place Mall is 96 percent vacant as of April 2009 and has been classified as a "dead mall". The mall features three anchor stores: JCPenney, Macy's, and Sears, with three additional vacant anchors last occupied by Service Merchandise, Montgomery Ward and Kohl's.

Contents

[edit] History of Summit Place Mall

Summit Place Mall opened in 1963 under the name Pontiac Mall.[1] At the time, it comprised two anchor stores: Montgomery Ward at the north end, and a Detroit-based Hudson's at the south end. The 389,495 square foot mall included approximately 30 stores at the time. Tenants included a 34,000 square foot Kresge 5 and 10 and a freestanding Farmer Jack Supermarket.[citation needed] The existing anchor stores were expanded in the mid-to-late 1960s. Montgomery Ward was enlarged from 145,100 to 193,300 square feet. The mall's south anchor grew from a 105,000 square foot building into a 325,100 square foot, full-line Hudson's department store. Sears built a 181,900 square foot store at the north end of the site in the early 1970s, although this store was not part of the mall at the time.

Pontiac Mall was expanded in 1988 with a small wing extending westward from Montgomery Ward and ending at a 154,500 square foot JCPenney. Service Merchandise later opened in a portion of the Hudson's building as well. Between 1989 and 1990, the mall was expanded again, a new wing extending northeasternly from JCPenney towards a newly-built MainStreet (which became Kohl's soon after opening) and then northernly to the existing Sears store. Also included in the new construction was a food court called Picnic Place. Once the mall expansion was complete, Pontiac Mall was renamed Summit Place Mall. After this expansion, the mall comprised more than 200 tenants, and would remain at that number until the late 1990s.

[edit] Late 1990s-early 2000s: Decline

Service Merchandise and Montgomery Ward closed in 1999 and 2000, respectively, as both chains declared bankruptcy. Also in 2000, Hudson's was remodeled, before being renamed Marshall Field's a year later.[2][3] After the loss of these two anchors, Summit Place Mall began losing inline tenants, primarily to Great Lakes Crossing, which opened in nearby Auburn Hills in 1998.

General Growth Properties sold Summit Place Mall in 2002 to California-based Namco Financial. Namco announced plans to change the name of the mall to Festivals of Waterford, and add a family entertainment center as well as a $700,000 kid's play area and a waterpark, the latter of which would be located in the former Montgomery Ward.[4][5][6] That December, the children's play area opened,[7] although the waterpark plans were shelved after the city decided not to risk the $20 million indoor waterpark, fearing that the income could not repay the debt.[8]

[edit] Mid-late 2000s

State legislative action in 2005 resulted in a law that would allow the owners of Summit Place to receive a tax abatement for redevelopment of the site.[1] The proposed redevelopment called for demolition of half of the mall, and the rezoning of much of the property to include housing.[9]

Marshall Field's was renamed Macy's in September 2006 after Marshall Field's parent company May Co. was purchased by Federated Department Stores (now Macy's, Inc.).[2] In August 2007, Waterford Township explored the creation of a "Corridor Improvement Authority," or CIA, to look into future uses for the property.[10] The mall continued to lose tenants throughout the mid-2000s, including all tenants in the food court, as well as the children's playplace.[4] In January 2009, Kohl's announced that it would close on March 12.[11] Following the closure of this anchor, the mall has become 96% vacant.[12]

[edit] Peripheral development

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009)

Summit Place Mall is surrounded by multiple strip malls and big box stores, many of which have vacancies. One of the first strip malls in the vicinity of the mall opened in the late 1980s called Oakland Pointe. Originally anchored by Mervyns, Toys "R" Us/Kids "R" Us, Marshalls (later AJ Wright), Media Play and Circuit City, this strip lost all of its anchors except Toys "R" Us through the mid-2000s, although Big Lots was added.

In 1991, Summit Place's developers opened Summit Crossings, a strip mall on the west side of the site, anchored by Office Max, Sports Authority, Target, and Farmer Jack. Sports Authority and Farmer Jack are now vacant. Two years later, Summit North opened, also built by the mall's developers. Summit North contained Best Buy and Builders Square, the latter of which was converted to Home Quarters before closing. Gander Mountain built next to Best Buy in 1995. The former HQ/Builder's Square was partially converted to Steve & Barry's in 2006, replacing a Steve & Barry's which closed at Great Lakes Crossing.[13] This newer store closed in early 2009 with the chain's bankruptcy.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Mossa, Lara (2005-11-10). "Law will help Summit Place get back on feet". The Oakland Press. http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/111005/loc_2005111001.shtml. Retrieved on 2007-08-19. 
  2. ^ a b The Oakland Press: Local News
  3. ^ The Oakland Press: Auto/Business: Retailer prepares to welcome new owner
  4. ^ a b Newspaper Archive
  5. ^ http://www.twp.waterford.mi.us/cpd/Planning/PC/MinutesArchives/2002/11-12-2002.pdf
  6. ^ Mall plans please township: Spinal Column Online
  7. ^ Newspaper Archive
  8. ^ http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-7967530_ITM
  9. ^ Mossa, Lara (2005-11-18). "Housing may replace part of Summit Place mall". Oakland Press. http://theoaklandpress.com/stories/111805/loc_2005111801.shtml. Retrieved on 2007-08-19. 
  10. ^ Corridor authority proposed: Spinal Column Online
  11. ^ http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2009/01/08/business/doc4965d91aee705557368851.txt
  12. ^ Sports center possible for mall: It's idea to revive Summit Place. | Detroit Free Press (Detroit, MI) (April, 2007)
  13. ^ The Oakland Press: Business
v • d • e
Shopping malls in metropolitan Detroit
Enclosed
Class A/B
Open-air
Lifestyle Center
Class A/B
Class C/
Under redevelopment
or demolished
See also: Tourism in metropolitan Detroit


[edit] External links

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