Lindbergh Boulevard / US 67 and St. Charles Rock Road
Cities of St. Ann and Bridgeton, Missouri
One of the largest shopping malls ever built in Greater Saint Louis was designed by Richard C. Hafner and Herbert R. Wahlmann (of St. Louis) and Raymond Loewy and Richard Snaith (of New York City). The super-sized shopping complex was developed by Louis Zorensky, Milton Zorensky and Saul Brodsky.
NORTHWEST PLAZA was built on a 117-acre parcel, lying 14 miles northwest of center city St. Louis. Ground was broken for the project on October 8, 1963. When fully realized, the complex encompassed approximately 1,474,500 leasable square feet and housed eighty-four stores and services. The open-air mall comprised a main Mall Level, with a retail and service basement open to the parking lot on its east and south sides.
A 3-level (331,700 square foot) Sears became the mall's first operational store on August 19, 1965. A 2-level (200,000 square foot), St. Louis-based Famous-Barr opened on January 24, 1966. A 3-level (160,000 square foot), St. Louis-based Scruggs, Vandervoort & Barney was dedicated on the same day. A & P opened a freestanding grocery on February 22nd. J.C. Penney's 3-level (162,000 square foot) unit opened on August 15, 1966.
Charter inline stores included Boyd's, Walgreen Drug, Richman Brothers, Holloway House Cafeteria, Joan Bari Bag & Gem Shop, Burt's Stylepride Shoes, a 2-level (75,000 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10 and two freestanding supermarkets; A & P and Bettendorf-Rapp.
In addition, there was the 2 story First Northwest Building, at the southeast corner of the mall. The General Cinema Corporation Northwest Plaza Cinema opened on June 25, 1969. It was built, as a freestanding structure, in the western parking lot. The venue was twinned in December 1974, quaded in April 1982, and closed in 1989.
Vandervoort's became the first anchor store to be shuttered, in February 1969. The 2 upper levels of the building re-opened, as a (100,000 square foot) Famous-Barr Home Furnishings store, on November 10, 1969. The lower level was leased as the Central Office for the up-and-coming Venture discount mart chain.
Shopping hubs in the NORTHWEST PLAZA trade area included NORTHLAND CENTER (1955) {6 miles east, in Jennings}, WEST COUNTY CENTER (1969) {9 miles southwest, in Saint Louis County} and RIVER ROADS CENTER (1962) {8 miles east, also in Jennings}.
The first expansion of NORTHWEST PLAZA added a 3-level (217,900 square foot), St. Louis-based Stix, Baer & Fuller. The store, constructed on the north end of the complex, opened its doors on March 20, 1978. An adjacent northwest block of stores was also built.
The Stix store was rebranded as a Dillard's in the spring of 1985. A comprehensive, renovation of the mall was done between 1986 and 1989 by the New York City-based Paramount Group. Courts and concourses were fully-enclosed and over 200,000 square feet of retail space was added, most of this filling in previously open areas.
Famous-Barr's main building was expanded to 238,500 square feet. Moreover, the Vandervoort's / Famous-Barr Home Furnishings building was rebuilt into a 3-level, entertainment complex. The basement became a Tilt Arcade. The Mall Level floor was reconfigured as the 12-bay Sensations Food Court. The third floor now housed the Wehrenburg Northwest Plaza 9, which showed its first features on November 17, 1989.
The 60 million dollar revitalization brought new inline stores, such as Lady Foot Locker, Champ's Sports, ROC's and Spinnaker's Restaurant. The new NORTHWEST PLAZA was inaugurated with a gala "Prince's Ball", held November 12, 1989. The complex now encompassed 1,768,500 leasable square feet, with 120 store spaces.
A face lift renovation was done in 1994. 3 years later, the Paramount Group repositioned the mall as a "value-oriented" venue. As part of this endeavor, new Office Max and Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill stores opened. Burlington Coat Factory assumed a vacated Woolworth space in November 1998.
Meanwhile, Australia's Westfield had acquired the shopping venue in December 1997, renaming it WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN NORTHWEST in November 1998. By this time, the shopping center was starting to decline. Westfield began to focus on its five other St. Louis retail properties. Maintenance and upkeep at their NORTHWEST property was deferred and vacancies piled up.
J.C. Penney shuttered their store in 2002. The completion of SAINT LOUIS MILLS {3.6 miles northwest, in Hazelwood}, in November 2003, exacerbated the exodus of stores from WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN NORTHWEST. Steve & Barry's University Sportswear was signed to fill the vacant Penney's space, in 2004. However, the following year saw the closing of the Northwest Plaza 9 multiplex and Tilt Arcade.
Westfield shortened the official mall moniker to WESTFIELD NORTHWEST PLAZA in June 2005 and then sold the past-its-prime property in June 2006. The buyer, Santa Barbara-based Somera Capital Management, soon announced a 250 million dollar redevelopment plan. A revitalized shopping hub, known as LINDBERGH TOWN CENTER, would be anchored by a new Wal-Mart SuperCenter and the existing Sears and Macy's (nee' Famous-Barr). Rumors also circulated that Sweden's Ikea would open a store.
According to plan, existing mall space would either be demolished or reconfigured into an open-air format. However, Ikea backed out of the deal. The Great Recession caused the complete abandonment of the project. Steve & Barry's shuttered their NORTHWEST PLAZA location in September 2008. Dillard's, having been demoted to a Clearance Center, went dark in February 2009. Macy's pulled up stakes in March 2010. Sears, the final operational anchor, closed for good on July 14, 2010.
The virtually vacant mall had been foreclosed on in September 2009, with a holding company, known as the St. Ann Shopping Center, Limited Liability Company, taking possession. The City of St. Ann took an option to purchase the mall in January 2010 and devised a plan to redevelop it as LINDBERG LANDING, a mixed-use complex.
Unfortunately, this plan failed as well. The few remaining stores in operation along the interior mallway closed on January 1, 2011. In July 2011, the mall was placed on the auction block, with bids starting at 1.3 million dollars. It was hoped that bidding would get as high as 5 million dollars, but this didn't happen. The top bid was 2.9 million dollars...which was rejected.
In July 2012, St. Louis-based Raven Development acquired the mall for 5 million dollars. They announced a redevelopment plan soon after. A retail, restaurant and office venue, known as THE CROSSINGS AT NORTHWEST, would be created.
The bulk of the mall would be demolished, leaving the vacant Famous-Barr / Macy's, J.C. Penney and 12-story office tower standing. These would be joined by newly-built, open-air structures, including a 1-level (160,000 square foot) Menards home improvement center.
A photo-op demolition was held November 13, 2012, with the freestanding Sears Auto Center being razed. Asbestos abatement was performed over the following months, with demolition beginning, in earnest, in April 2013. The Menards at THE CROSSINGS AT NORTHWEST held its grand opening August 18, 2015.
Sources:
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
www.labelscar.com / "Prange Way"
www.westfield.com / The Westfield Group
www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.stannmo.org
http://www.thecrossingsatnorthwest.com
"Northwest Plaza" article on Wikipedia
