Summit Place Mall
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| Location | Waterford Township, Michigan, United States |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1963 |
| Closing date | Septemer 2009 (mall building) March 2010 (Macy's) |
| Developer | ? |
| Management | Namco Corporation |
| No. of stores and services | approx. 200 at peak |
| No. of anchor tenants | 6 (2 open, 4 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 1,400,000 sq ft (130,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in Sears, 3 in former Macy's) |
Summit Place Mall, originally Pontiac Mall, was an enclosed shopping mall located in Waterford Township, Michigan, United States. The 1,400,000-square-foot (130,000 m2) retail center opened in 1963 with expansions between 1987 and 1993. At its peak, it had approximately 200 inline tenants and six anchor stores: Hudson's (later Marshall Field's, then Macy's), Sears, J. C. Penney, Montgomery Ward, Service Merchandise and Kohl's.
Following the opening of Great Lakes Crossing in nearby Auburn Hills in 1998, Summit Place Mall lost many of its tenants to this newer mall, also losing Service Merchandise and Montgomery Ward to their respective bankruptcies in 1999 and 2001. Despite various renovation plans in the 2000s, Summit Place became a dead mall, losing its Kohl's anchor in early 2009 and closing (except for the three remaining anchors) in September of the same year. Macy's is also slated for a March 2010 closure.
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[edit] History of Summit Place Mall
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009) |
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. 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 from JCPenney towards a newly-built MainStreet (which became Kohl's soon after opening) and then northerly 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 canceled 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 became 96% vacant.[12] The entire mall closed, except for the three remaining anchors, in September 2009.[13] In January 2010, Macy's annouced that they were closing their Summit Place store in March.[14]
[edit] Peripheral development
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This section needs additional citations for verification. 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 AJWright), 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.[15] This newer store closed in early 2009 with the chain's bankruptcy.
[edit] References
- ^ 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 2007-08-19.
- ^ a b The Oakland Press: Local News
- ^ The Oakland Press: Auto/Business: Retailer prepares to welcome new owner
- ^ a b Newspaper Archive
- ^ http://www.twp.waterford.mi.us/cpd/Planning/PC/MinutesArchives/2002/11-12-2002.pdf
- ^ Mall plans please township: Spinal Column Online
- ^ Newspaper Archive
- ^ http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-7967530_ITM
- ^ Mossa, Lara (2005-11-18). "Housing may replace part of Summit Place mall". Oakland Press. http://theoaklandpress.com/stories/111805/loc_2005111801.shtml. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
- ^ Corridor authority proposed: Spinal Column Online
- ^ http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2009/01/08/business/doc4965d91aee705557368851.txt
- ^ Sports center possible for mall: It's idea to revive Summit Place. | Detroit Free Press (Detroit, MI) (April, 2007)
- ^ "What does the future hold for Summit Place mall?". Oakland Press. 2009-08-31. http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2009/08/31/news/doc4a9b90569181a089817212.txt. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
- ^ Guest, Greta. Macy's at Summit Place Mall prepares to close Detroit Free Press, lsj.com, January 5, 2010, retrieved 2010-Jan-05
- ^ The Oakland Press: Business
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