Two views of the shuttered Dillard's at THE BOULEVARD. The 2-
level, 199,000 square foot store is presently listed on the open
market. The asking price is $6,000,000.
Photos from www.loopnet.com


THE BOULEVARD
Maryland Parkway and Desert Inn Road
Winchester / Clark County, Nevada

The first shopping mall in the Silver State, CHARLESTON PLAZA, was built in southeast Las Vegas in the early 1960s. This neighborhood shopping complex was torn down and replaced by a strip center of the same name in 1988.

Hence, Vegas' second mall became its oldest by default. Known as THE BOULEVARD, it was built on a 75 acre tract, in unincorporated Clark County, 2.5 miles southeast of downtown Las Vegas.

THE BOULEVARD was envisaged by developer Irwin Molasky, who commissioned Seattle's John Graham, Jr. to design the fully-enclosed structure. It consisted of a main level of retail stores and a service / basement level.

The shopping venue was built in three phases. A predominantly 1-level (218,000 square foot) Sears -with basement- opened on the site in 1965. This was followed in 1966 by a 2-level (179,000 square foot), Los Angeles-based The Broadway.

In 1968, the fully-enclosed mall proper, including a 2-level Woolworth, was completed. It featured a 2-level (193,000 square foot) anchor store, built by the Nevada-based Ronzone's chain. This store later became a Phoenix-based Diamond's, which -probably- was rebranded by Dillard's in 1984. The structure currently houses a J.C. Penney.

THE BOULEVARD was the premier mall in the Las Vegas Valley until its first regional shopping mall competitor, MEADOWS MALL, opened in western Las Vegas in 1978. In 1981, FASHION SHOW, another regional mall, was built only 2 miles west of THE BOULEVARD.

A fifty-five million dollar remodeling of THE BOULEVARD, done in 1991-1992, included rerouting East Twain Avenue into a tunnel, as well as constructing a 2-level (199,000 square foot) Dillard's, a new mall concourse named "The Promenade" and three "parking terraces". The interior and exterior of the original mall was also modernized.

The renovation doubled the size of center, making it (for a time) the largest mall in Las Vegas, as well as the state of Nevada. With completion of the expansion, the retail hub encompassed 1,187,000 leasable square feet and one hundred and forty inline stores.

Today, THE BOULEVARD is the second-largest shopping mall in the Las Vegas metropolitan area; this following a 2002-2003 expansion of FASHION SHOW MALL. The BOULEVARD is owned by Chicago-based General Growth Properties, who acquired the center in June 1998.

The shuttering of Dillard's, on October 31, 2008, created a major vacancy at the mall that is yet to be filled.


Sources:

"Boulevard Mall" article on www.labelscar.com (The Retail History Blog) / Article by "Caldor"
http://www.molaskyco.com/
Clark County, Nevada tax assessor website
www.wrin.unlv.edu/biographies/bertha_ronzone
www.ggp.com (General Growth Properties)