Westgate Mall (Massachusetts)
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| Location | Brockton, Massachusetts, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°05′44″N 71°03′07″W / 42.0955°N 71.0519°W |
| Address | 200 Westgate Drive |
| Opening date | February 24, 1963 |
| Management | New England Development |
| Owner | New England Development |
| No. of stores and services | 65+[1] |
| No. of anchor tenants | 6 |
| Total retail floor area | 600,000 sq ft (56,000 m2)[1] |
| No. of floors | 1 |
| Website | www.shopatwestgatemall.com |
Westgate Mall is a shopping mall in the city of Brockton, Massachusetts. It is the oldest enclosed shopping mall in the state.[2] Although Westgate Mall's GLA is small by regional standards, it is also surrounded by numerous adjacent big-box stores including: Walmart, Lowe's, Toys "R" Us, A.C. Moore, DeMoulas Market Basket, and Dick's Sporting Goods.[3] These standalone retailers complement the main building, driving increased traffic to the location as a shopping destination.
History
Today's 600,000-square-foot (56,000 m2) mall opened -as the 356,000-square-foot (33,100 m2) Westgate Shopper's Park- in February 1963. It was expanded in 1984-1985 and substantially renovated between 2000 and 2003, reversing a trend of nearly a decade of decline wherein nearly all of the stores had vacated the center. Nearby malls, including South Shore Plaza and Silver City Galleria, dominated the market in the past 15 years, but the Westgate Mall today has repositioned itself as a smaller, more convenient alternative and as a result, business has improved.[citation needed]
Ownership of the mall has changed hands several times over the past decade. The mall was purchased by New England Development for $17 million in 1999, with plans to revitalize the vintage mall. Over several years, the new owners spent significant resources to remodel it, and were very successful in turning the mall around. In 2004, New England Development sold Westgate to Gregory Greenfield & Assoc. (GG&A) for $58.5 million; three years later, GG&A was taken over by Australia-based Babcock & Brown.[4] In 2009, Bank of America foreclosed the mall due to "breach of conditions" on its mortgage with Babcock & Brown, and the property went on the auction block.[2][5][6] Finally, in 2010, New England Development again purchased the property for $31.75 million, and as of 2011 remain Westgate Mall's current owner.[7]
Anchors
- Best Buy (30,012 sq ft.)
- FALLAS (28,000 sq ft.)
- Market Basket (80,000 sq. ft.)
- Macy's (140,000 sq ft.)
- Old Navy (22,625 sq ft.)
- Sears (126,806 sq ft.)
Former anchors
- Bradlees (112,000 sq ft.) (Opened in 1963. Closed in 2001, demolished for Filene's)
- Gilchrist's (73,000 sq. ft.) (Opened in 1963. Closed in 1977) Jordan Marsh (Opened in 1977, converted to Macy's in 1996, closed in 2006 when Macy's merged with Filene's)
- Child World (38,600 sq. ft.) (Opened in 1985. Closed in 1992) (Child World and original Marshalls demolished for new Sears in 1999)
- Marshalls (original store 30,000 sq. ft.) (Opened in 1985. Relocated to adjacent -28,000 sq. ft.- mall space in 1999. Closed in 2011. Replaced by C.W. Price Closed in 2015)
- Filene's (140,000 sq. ft.) (Opened in 2003, converted to Macy's in 2006)
References
- ^ a b "Westgate Mall". New England Development. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
- ^ a b Kyle Alspach (Nov 17, 2009). "Brockton's Westgate Mall could have brighter future under new owner". Taunton Daily Gazette.
- ^ "Westgate Mall" (PDF). New England Development. 2009. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
- ^ "Brockton's Westgate Mall Fetches $31.75M" (PDF). Banker & Tradesman. June 1, 2010. Archived from the original on June 1, 2010.
- ^ Eric Convey (December 14, 2009). "Brockton mall on block after owner goes bankrupt". Boston Business Journal.
- ^ Dan Guenther (October 28, 2009). "Westgate Mall Loan Foreclosure Reflects Foreign Investor Angst". Boston Real Estate Examiner.
- ^ Craig M. Douglas (June 1, 2010). "N.E. Development buys Westgate Mall". Boston Business Journal.