Washington, D.C.'s
Iverson Mall



Photo provided by kind permission
of Ms. Jeannette Kainu, Marketing
Director, Iverson Mall

A newspaper ad announcing the grand opening of
IVERSON MALL, September 21, 1967.
Provided by kind permission of Ms. Jeannette Kainu,
Marketing Director, Iverson Mall

A late '60s aerial of the mall, showing its unique design. The structure
straddles a state highway, which passes beneath it at midpoint.
Photo provided by kind permission of Ms. Jeannette Kainu, Marketing
Director, Iverson Mall

Circa-'67 site plan of IVERSON MALL. The 527,000 square foot complex
was anchored by DC-based Woodward and Lothrop and Montgomery
Ward. There were over seventy inline stores, as well as an office building.



A cut-away view of the bi-level shopping mall.

The bi-level mall concourse and stairway.
Photo provided by kind permission of Ms. Jeannette
Kainu, Marketing Director, Iverson Mall

A Food Court was recently installed on the Upper Level.

Photo from www.labelscar.com / "Caldor"

A present-day physical layout of the mall. The east anchor, originally

a Woodward and Lothrop, was leased by Value City for several years.

They pulled out of the mall in early 2008. Burlington Coat Factory

opened in the space in the fall of the same year.

IVERSON MALL
Branch Avenue and Iverson Street
Prince George's County (Hillcrest Heights), Maryland

In retrospect, it appears that the Washington, DC region may have been somewhat slow in getting around to building a climate-controlled mall, especially when considering that Greater Baltimore, 30 miles north, had done so nine years earlier [see HARUNDALE MALL, January 2007 archive]. Be that as it may, DC did catch up -and open its first interior mall- by the mid-1960s.

IVERSON MALL, the first enclosed shopping center in the region, was built on a 9.3 acre tract, 1.1 mile west of the District of Columbia, in the unincorporated Prince George's County suburb of Hillcrest Heights.

The 526,700 square foot, 10 million dollar shopping center held its grand opening September 21, 1967 and included mall store space for seventy-seven tenants. There was also 100,000 square feet of office space within a 4-level tower at the front of the structure.

The mall had a unique design, in that it straddled the State Route 458 / Iverson Street Parkway, which divided it at midpoint. There was a three hundred and fifty car capacity parking garage along the rear, connecting into a bi-level mall concourse in front.

The Upper Level concourse stretched between two large anchor store spaces; the Lower Level concourse was divided into two sections by the Iverson Street tunnel, which passed underneath the mall structure.

Originally, IVERSON MALL was a regional shopping center, anchored by a 2-level (157,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward and 2-level (84,000 square foot), DC-based Woodward and Lothrop ["Low-thrup"].

However, soon after its opening, it was eclipsed by newer and larger enclosed shopping complexes, such as CAPITAL PLAZA (1970) and LANDOVER MALL (1972). Both of these were built 8 miles distant, in unincorporated areas of Prince George's County. Some degree of retail rivalry was also presented by the completion of FOREST VILLAGE PARK MALL (1980), also in unincorporated Prince George's County.

By the mid-1990s, IVERSON MALL's two anchor department stores had closed. Eventually, the center evolved into a local or neighborhood shopping center, with its two multi-level anchor spaces being divided into four.

The east anchor spot, formerly Woodward and Lothrop, was retenanted by Columbus, Ohio-based Value City apparel (upper level) and Value City Furniture (lower level). These stores were shuttered in 2008. They reopened, as a 2-level Burlington Coat Factory, in the fall of 2008.

The west anchor spot, vacated by Montgomery Ward, was leased to Philadelphia-based Forman Mills apparel (lower level) and Total Save (upper level).

IVERSON MALL celebrated its 40th year in business in 2007. It survived the retail upheaval of the previous twenty years and even eclipsed the CAPITAL PLAZA and LANDOVER malls, once its major competitors, which were torn down in the mid-2000s.

Today, the center is managed by Chevy Chase, Maryland-based H.R. Retail, Incorporated.

Sources:

http://www.iversonmall.com/
http://www.goprincegeorgescounty.com/
"Iverson Mall" article at http://www.labelscar.com/
"Capital Plaza Mall" and "Landover Mall" articles at http://www.deadmalls.com/
"Iverson Mall" Flyer / H & R Retail, Inc. / Chevy Chase, Maryland
"Iverson Mall" article on Wikipedia

Houston's Gulfgate

Shopping City

GULFGATE in its open-air days. The complex was the first regional
shopping center in the Lonestar State. In this view, we see the south
end of the main mall concourse. The J.J. Newberry 5 and dime is on
the left. W.T. Grant is across the way.
Photo from Malls of America Blogspot

A circa-'65 physical layout of GULFGATE SHOPPING CITY. At the
time, it was still an open-air complex. Its twin cinema, an across-the-
bridge, southern outparcel, had just opened for business.

By 1967, GULFGATE had been made into a fully-enclosed complex; this

in reaction to the new ALMEDA MALL, located eight miles southeast.

Photo from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries

A sign at the new GULFGATE CENTER, a power-format
complex that replaced the original GULFGATE in 2002.
Photo from Wikipedia / "Nummy Muffin"


GULFGATE SHOPPING CITY
Gulf Freeway and Woodridge Street
Houston, Texas

The first shopping mall in Texas was dedicated September 20, 1956. Originally known as GULFGATE SHOPPING CITY, it was located adjacent to the Gulf Freeway, Metropolitan Houston's first expressway, which had opened to traffic in September 1948.

Initially open-air, the 20 million dollar GULFGATE consisted of a retail level and service basement. It was developed by Theodore W. Berenson and Associates and designed by Seattle's John Graham, Jr. . The center sat on a 70 acre site, which was located 4 miles southeast of downtown Houston.

The original GULFGATE featured sixty-two stores. It was anchored by a 4-level (228,900 square foot), San Antonio-based Joske's and 4-level (128,900 square foot), Houston-based Sakowitz.

Junior anchors were a 3-level (69,400 square foot) J.J. Newberry 5 and 10, Weingarten's supermarket, W.T. Grant variety store and Battelstein's department store.

Inline stores included Flagg Brothers Shoes, Chandler's Shoes, Baker's Shoes, Leed's Qualicraft Shoes, Merle Norman Cosmetics, Gordon's Jewelers, Russell Stover Candies, ABC Liquors and the first shopping center-format Piccadilly Cafeteria. The original mall also had a bowling alley on its lower level.

At the southern end of the main corridor was a pedestrian bridge, which connected to a twin-screen cinema, dedicated April 13, 1965. In the late 1960s, the Interstate 610 / South Loop expressway was completed. It passed beneath the pedestrian bridge and provided additional access to the shopping center from the surrounding area.

In 1968, the fully-enclosed and air-conditioned ALMEDA MALL opened, 7 miles southeast. To remain competitive, GULFGATE had been enclosed and air-conditioned in 1967.

A name change to GULFGATE MALL, replacing the rather out-dated "shopping city" moniker, helped to keep the center popular through the 1970s. This remarketing was somewhat thwarted by the completion of a second retail rival, BAYBROOK MALL, in 1978.

By the late 1980s, GULFGATE was in decline. Joske's was converted to Dillard's in 1987. Sakowitz went out of business in 1989, leaving its anchor box vacant. The mall struggled through the 1990s, with Dillard's being shuttered in 1997.

By the early 2000s, the once-fashionable mall was virtually vacant. The entire shopping center was razed in 2001 and replaced by a 450,000 square foot -74 million dollar- power center.

Known as GULFGATE CENTER, it was completed in May 2002 and is currently operated by Houston-based Wulfe and Company. Stores include Marshalls, Home Depot, Office Depot and H-E-B Foods.

Sources:

http://www.texasfreeway.com/
Chet Cuccia and KLDE Tower commentaries / Houston Architectural Info Forum / wwwhoustonarchitecture.info
"Sakowitz" article on Wikipedia
Comment post by Jonah Norason
"Joske's" article on Wikipedia
Houston Business Journal / May 17, 2002 / Nancy Sarnoff

New York City's Cross County Center

*

A vintage view of the open mallway at New York State's first shopping

mall. The center opened April 28, 1954. Gimbels, seen in the distance,

was dedicated in September 1955.
Photo from www.crosscountycenter.com

A late 1956 site plan of CROSS COUNTY CENTER, one of the first
shopping malls in America with two anchor stores. The complex
was adjacent to the final construction segment of the New York State
Thruway. It had opened to traffic on September 1st.

An evening shot of the mallway at CROSS COUNTY CENTER, with Gimbels in the background.

John Wanamaker at CROSS COUNTY CENTER. The store
opened in April 1955 and was rebranded by Sears in 1995.

CROSS COUNTY'S Gimbels department store, which -for a time- was a
Stern's. It was rebranded by Macy's in 2001. On the right of this photo is
the Horn and Hardart "Automat" restaurant. Now there's an obsolete
-and archaic- "mid-century-ism"...an "Automat".

A rendering showing how a newly-renovated CROSS COUNTY CENTER
will appear when construction is completed in 2012.
Drawing from http://www.crosscountycenter.com/



Site plan of the remodeled shopping venue. The original 1954-
1955 mall is shown in black. Additions from the 1980s and '90s
are indicated in dark gray. Areas colored in medium gray show
newly-constructed retail spaces.



CROSS COUNTY CENTER
New York State Thruway / Interstate 87 and Cross County Parkway
Yonkers, New York

Developer Sol Atlas built the first shopping mall in Metropolitan New York City in the Westchester County suburb of Yonkers. It was situated on a 71 acre tract, 12.5 miles northeast of Times Square, in the Dunwoodie community.

CROSS COUNTY CENTER, designed by New York City's Douglas Lathrop, held its grand opening April 28, 1954 with twenty-one inline stores (out of an eventual forty). During its early years, the 885,000 square foot, open-air shopping complex was one of the largest in the United States.

Philadephia-based John Wanamaker's 3-level (271,200 square foot) store opened -as the center's first anchor- in April 1955. New York City-based Gimbels' 3-level (297,400 square foot) location came inline in September 1955.

Inline stores and businesses in the 1950s shopping venue included Lerner Shops, Fanny Farmer Candies, Thom McAn Shoes, Chandler's Shoes, Walgreen Drug, Singer Sewing Center, Russek's ladies apparel, Wallach's, Red Coach Grill and an F.W. Woolworth 5 and 10 and Horn and Hardart "Automat" restaurant.

An outparcel Finast (First National) supermarket was added a few years after the grand opening of the mall. It was joined by an 8-story hospital complex, built at the southeast end of the complex. It closed in 1977 and was renovated into additional retail and offfice space.

The center, a middle-market venue, had no similar shopping complex competitors in its immediate vacinity. There were, however, more upscale retail centers, such as GALLERIA OF WHITE PLAINS [1981], THE WESTCHESTER [1995] and THE SOURCE AT WHITE PLAINS [2004].

Moreover, a small (265,000 square foot) enclosed mall of twenty-six stores was built on a site directly southwest of the existing CROSS COUNTY CENTER. Originally known as CROSS COUNTY SQUARE, it opened in August 1987. Today, this complex goes by the MALL AT CROSS COUNTY moniker.

The Gimbels at CROSS COUNTY CENTER was rebranded a New York City-based Stern's in 1987, and "Macy-ated" in 2001. The John Wanamaker location was taken over by Sears in 1995.

The original Safeway supermarket, rebranded by Finast in 1961, eventually became a Stop and Shop. In 2002, they relocated the store into a newly-built, 65,000 square foot, Super Stop and Shop. This outparcel was located southeast of the mall proper.

CROSS COUNTY CENTER was never enclosed and air-conditioned during the 1960s and '70s, as were most previously open-air centers of the mid-century. Its management during these years felt that, being as how the center remained profitable, there was no real need change it.

In this new millennium of retail, everything old is new again. Enclosed malls across the nation are being demolished by the dozen, or else, being converted to roofless shopping centers.

At CROSS COUNTY, a major remodeling job got underway in 2006. However, the 960,700 square foot center is going to be left essentially the same, just upgraded to a modern, lifestyle-type mall.

Improvements will include facelifts of all exteriors, refurbishment of the existing pedestrian mall, demolition of 47,000 square feet of retail space and construction of 250,000 square feet of new stores and restaurants. Macy's will also be expanded by 75,000 square feet, two parking garages will be constructed and the existing hospital / office tower will become a hotel.

265 million dollars is to be spent on these renovations. The owners of the mall, the New York City-based Brooks Limited Liability Company, initiated the project. It is being overseen by the Santa Monica-based Macerich Company, who manage the complex.

Phase One of the project, which included new American Eagle Outfitters and Guess? stores, was completed in late 2008. Phase Two, featuring Armani Exchange, bebe, Forever 21 and H and M, is scheduled to come inline in 2009.

Phase Three, which will complete the renovation, should be finished by 2012.

Sources:

Malls of America Blogspot / Keith Milford webmaster
"Cross County Shopping Center" article on Wikipedia
Draft Environmental Impact Statement / Brooks Shopping Centers LLC / Yonkers Planning Board / Jim Myers Consulting PC / August, 2005
Final Environmental Impact Statement / Brooks Shopping Centers LLC / Yonkers Planning Board / Jim Myers Consulting PC / June. 2006

Library of Congress Photos:

From the Gottscho-Schleisner Collection / Repository: United States Library Of Congress Prints and Photograph Division, Washington, D.C. / Taken by Gottscho-Schleisner, Inc., 1956 / Douglas Lathrop - Client / Photographs are in the public domain: no known restrictions on publication / www.loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html