MALL HALL OF FAME: May 2008

Victor Gruen (1903-1980) was one of the men who envisioned the American shopping mall.

Photo from Library of Congress

Much has been written about Victor Gruen, the Austrian e'migre' who escaped Nazi-occupied Europe in 1938 and arrived in New York City with eight dollars in cash, a t-square, and no command of the English language.

Viktor David Grunbaum was born, in Vienna, Austria, on July 18, 1903. He attended the Advanced Division for Building Construction Technological Institute, in Vienna, and received a degree in architecture from the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. He founded the firm Gruen & Krummeck (1932-1938), in Vienna, and was employed by Morris Ketcham Architects, in New York City (1938-1939).

From these humble beginnings sprang an illustrious 39-year career in the design of retail structures, which got underway with his creation of fashionable Fifth Avenue boutiques and work on renovating several Manhattan department stores. One of Gruen's early commissions was for the design of a branch of Los Angeles' Milliron's department store, in 1948.

Milliron's Westchester, a freestanding department store, welcomed first shoppers in March 1949. The Late Moderne-style structure was considered groundbreaking in its day.

Photo from Gruen Associates

Gruen formed Gruen Associates, a Los Angeles-based architectural firm, in 1951. Commissions for several office buildings and apartment complexes followed. He was was made a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, the highest honor given by that organization, in April 1962.

SUBURBAN SPRAWL

At the close of WW II, America, after years of depression and global conflict, was poised for major economic expansion. Virtually all this growth would occur in new, outlying suburbs. The regional shopping center would become the center of commerce in this reconfigured landscape.

Gruen had many innovative concepts that were utilized in constructing these new-style, suburban centers. He also had a great deal of input in the urban renewal projects that resulted from America's shift away from downtown-centered commerce.

The best known of his concepts -The Gruen Transfer- involved trying to increase consumer spending by manipulating shoppers to do impulse buying. According to Gruen, this could be accomplished via unconscious influences of lighting, ambient sound and music, visual detail of storefronts, mirrored or polished surfaces and climate control of interior spaces.

CITY CENTERS

Gruen also believed that America's central cities, which had been decimated by suburbanization, could be revitalized by constructing expressway loops around downtown areas, routing automobile traffic into parking garages and creating pedestrian-only zones, free of vehicular traffic, on previously-existing streets.

His first downtown redevelopment plan was commissioned for Fort Worth, Texas in 1956, but never carried out. Michigan's open-air KALAMAZOO MALL became Gruen's first completed center city project in August 1959. Then came FULTON STREET MALL (1964), in Fresno, California, K STREET MALL (1969), in Sacramento, and FORT STREET MALL (1969) in Honolulu. These projects did not fully implement Gruen's ideas, as only pedestrian malls were built.

Gruen's Master Plan for Fort Worth, Texas advocated rebuilding the city
center as a pedestrian-only zone. Utility functions, such as package
deliveries and refuse removal, would be relocated to a system of
underground tunnels. Although considered visionary and innovative, the
Gruen Plan was never implemented.
Drawing from Gruen Associates

In the spring of 1962, Rochester, New York dedicated MIDTOWN PLAZA, the first fully-realized "Gruenized" downtown. Several American cities followed with their own version of center city shopping mall; some open-air, others being fully-enclosed.

By the 1980s, the newness had worn off. The fact had to be faced; no redevelopment scenario, even though grandly-conceived and expensive, could reverse the exodus of retail trade from the blighted central city. Most downtown malls were eventually removed, with the pedestrian-only streets being re-opened to automobile traffic.

Gruen's idea of a suburban shopping mall as a European-style town center of culture and entertainment was also plausible for a while. The enclosed shopping mall of the 1960s was often promoted as a venue for concerts, pageants and other public events. However, mall management entities eventually came to the conclusion that hosting such large-scale events was a cost-prohibitive endeavor, involving various problems and liability issues. Such spectacles became less and less frequent.

ACRIMONIOUS ALIMONY

Alas, Victor's vision of the American retail center as a public gathering space was eventually undermined by the corporate directive for mere profit. He became disillusioned, retired from the Gruen Associates firm he had started, and returned to Vienna in 1967. In 1977, Gruen dismissed the shopping mall, which he had been instrumental in creating, by saying "I refuse to pay alimony to those bastard developments." Victor Gruen passed away on February 14, 1980.

GRUEN-DESIGNED MALLS 1954-1969:

A list of shopping malls designed by Victor Gruen between the mid-1950s and 1969. Those indicated in green have been inducted into the Mall Hall of Fame.

1. NORTHLAND CENTER, Southfield, MI (March 1954-April 2015)
2. WOODMAR CENTER, Hammond, IN (May 1954-February 2006)
3. WAI'ALAE CENTER-KAHALA MALL, Honolulu, HI (November 1954)
4. VALLEY FAIR CENTER-VALLEY FAIR MALL-VALLEY FAIR-WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN VALLEY FAIR-WESTFIELD VALLEY FAIR, San Jose, CA (August 1956)
5. SOUTHDALE CENTER, Edina, MN (October 1956)
6. RIVERSIDE PLAZA, Riverside, CA (November 1956)
7. EASTLAND CENTER, Harper Woods, MI (August 1957-January 2022)
8. BAY FAIR CENTER-BAY FAIR MALL-BAY-FAIR CENTER, San Leandro, CA (August 1957)
9. SOUTH BAY CENTER-GALLERIA AT SOUTH BAY-SOUTH BAY GALLERIA, Redondo Beach, CA (August 1957) *
10. GLENDALE CENTER-GLENDALE MALL-GLENDALE TOWN CENTER, Marion County, IN (August 1958)
11. MARYVALE SHOPPING CITY-MARYVALE MALL, Phoenix, AZ (August 1959-February 1998)
12. KALAMAZOO MALL (open-air pedestrian concourse), Kalamazoo, MI (August 1959)
13. SOUTH SHORE PLAZA, Braintree, MA (February 1961)
14. WINROCK CENTER-WINROCK TOWN CENTER, Albuquerque , NM (March 1961)
15. CHERRY HILL CENTER-CHERRY HILL MALL, Camden County, NJ (October 1961)
16. BROOKDALE CENTER, Brooklyn Center, MN (March 1962-April 2010)
17. MIDTOWN PLAZA, Rochester, NY (April 1962-November 2009)
18. NORTHWAY MALL-SHOPPES AT NORTHWAY-THE BLOCK NORTHWAY, Allegheny County, PA (August 1962)
19. RANDHURST CENTER-RANDHURST MALL-RANDHURST VILLAGE, Mount Prospect, IL (August 1962)
20. SOUTH COUNTY CENTER-WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN SOUTH COUNTY-WESTFIELD SOUTH COUNTY-SOUTH COUNTY CENTER, St. Louis County, MO (October 1963)
21. TOPANGA PLAZA-WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN TOPANGA-WESTFIELD TOPANGA , Los Angeles, CA (February 1964)
22. FULTON MALL (open-air pedestrian concourse), Fresno, CA (September 1964-March 2016)
23. WESTLAND CENTER, Westland, MI (July 1965)
24. SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE, Bethel Park & Upper St. Clair, PA (July 1965) *

25. GREENGATE MALL, Westmoreland County, PA (August 1965-July 2001)
26. PLYMOUTH MEETING MALL-PLYMOUTH MEETING, Montgomery County, PA (February 1966)

27. INLAND CENTER, San Bernardino, CA (October 1966)
28. MIDLAND MALL-RHODE ISLAND MALL-650 BALD HILL ROAD-MIDLAND COMMONS, Warwick, RI (August 1967)
29. FORT STREET MALL (open-air pedestrian concourse), Honolulu, HI (February 1969)

30. K STREET MALL (open-air pedestrian concourse), Sacramento. CA (December 1969)

* Contributing Architect

Detroit's Eastland Plaza Project

Gruen's first design for a shopping mall was commissioned by Detroit's J.L. Hudson Company. A suburban center would be built in the eastern environs of the Motor City. Above, we have a rendering of the Hudson's that was to anchor the prospective EASTLAND PLAZA. The circular structure was to include a rooftop parking deck.

A rather unconventional plan for what would have been Greater Detroit's first regional shopping center. It would encompass around 1.2 million leasable square feet, with free parking for 6,000 autos.

One of Victor Gruen's earliest shopping center plans was commissioned by Detroit's J.L. Hudson Company in 1950. The chain was considering expansion into the suburbs. A 103-acre acre tract was being considered for development. This parcel was located 14 miles northeast of center city Detroit, in an incorporated section of Wayne County known as Gratoit ["Grash-it"] Township.

A (350,000 square foot) Hudson's department store would anchor EASTLAND PLAZA. The open-air venue would feature nine store blocks; these arranged around a center parking area. Buildings would be connected via walkways and plazas, with a service tunnel providing out-of-sight freight delivery to stores. This plan was quite revolutionary for its time.

Building material shortages due to the Korean conflict put the project on indefinite hiatus in 1951. 6 years later, a more conventional shopping mall opened on the site.

Houston's Montclair Center Project

Gruen's second prospective retail center was to be built on a two parcel (23.7 acre total) site, located 6 miles west of downtown Houston. The plan envisaged for the MONTCLAIR SHOPPING CENTER was even more innovative than that of Detroit's circa-1950 EASTLAND.

The proposed Houston complex was to be anchored by two major department stores. This was unheard of in 1952, when what few suburban shopping malls that existed were centered on only one. Moreover, the complex was to feature a fully-enclosed and climate controlled "mall" area...yet another radical -and untried- concept.

The center would have straddled the two adjoining land lots, with Weslayan Street (which bisected the site) being routed beneath the mall structure. This design feature, along with a rooftop parking deck, made the construction cost for the center prohibitive.

Gruen and his backers were unable to commit two competing department stores to the project. The plan was abandoned, with a smaller-scale strip center eventually being built on the property.

Gruen's MONTCLAIR CENTER plan, several years ahead of its time, was perhaps too radical a concept for the conservative early 1950s. At the time, the idea of a single-anchor, open-air mall was only starting to catch on. Here, we had a plan for a bi-anchor, fully-enclosed shopping complex, years before one was built.

Ripped from the headlines! Minnesota's SOUTHDALE CENTER, dedicated in October 1956, is Gruen's most celebrated retail project. It was the nation's -and world's- first fully-enclosed, regional-class shopping mall. Expansions over the years enlarged the original complex exponentially, but also compromised its historical integrity.
Photo from The Minneapolis Sunday Tribune

So-Cal's TOPANGA PLAZA opened for business during 1964. In November 1993, the complex was acquired by Australia's Westfield. It was branded as a Westfield property in November 1998. The "Topanga Mall" has been expanded several times since its mid-1960s debut.
Photo from Wikipedia / Clotee Allochuku-Albritton

Sources:

"The Architect As Creator of Environments: Victor Gruen, Visionary Pioneer of Urban Revitalizations" / David J. Azrieli, B.A. / Carlton University School of Architecture / Ottawa, ON / April 1997
Architectural Forum, The Magazine of Building / August 1950 / https://usmodernist.org
https://deliriousla.com / "Locating Victor Gruen" / Alan Loomis / April 2001
https://imagesofoldhawaii.com
https://www.tshaonline.org / Texas State Historical Association
https://www.gruenassociates.com / Gruen Associates
https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org / Victor Gruen Papers, 1903-1980
ttps://aiahistoricaldirectory / American Institute of Architects / Directory Biographical Section / 1956
"Victor Gruen" article on Wikipedia

Gruen Malls:

Detroit's Northland Center

The third shopping mall designed by master architect Victor Gruen -the first one actually actually built- was completed in March 1954.

Drawing from Shopping Centers, Incorporated

The NORTHLAND J.L. Hudson, with 486,200 square feet, would be the largest branch department store ever built in the United States. The original structure was comprised of 4 levels; Lower (or basement), Middle (or Ground), Upper and Roof. With an addition in 1960, the building's size was increased to 537,000 square feet.

The four directionally-designated malls of the Motor City debuted with Southfield's NORTHLAND CENTER, in 1954. EASTLAND CENTER, in Harper Woods, was completed in 1957. Westland's WESTLAND CENTER was third in line, being dedicated in 1965. SOUTHLAND CENTER, in Taylor, opened in 1970. It would be the fourth -and final- "Land" mall project.

Proclaimed a "shopping paradise," NORTHLAND was America's largest shopping center for its first 2 years in business. The open-air mall encompassed over 1 million leasable square feet and housed an initial sixty-seven stores and services. Its sprawling parking area could accommodate 7,500 autos.

NORTHLAND CENTER TENANTS 1954:

J.L. HUDSON (with The Northland Room restaurant, Piccadilly Circus Cafeteria, Pharmacy, freestanding Garden Center and Tire Center) / S.S. KRESGE 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / KROGER supermarket / CUNNINGHAM DRUG (with luncheonette) / A.S. Beck Shoes / Albert's ladies' wear / Appearance Shop / Artiste Beauty Salon / Awrey Bakeries / Baker's Shoes / Banner News Agency / Barna-Bee Children's Shop / Better Made Potato Chips / Bloetscher's Meats / Brennan's / Brothers Delicatessen / Center Music Shop / Chandler's Shoes / Community Key Shop / del Gaudio Gifts / Morris Disner & Sons / Dube's Barber Shop / Dunn's Camera & Hobby Center / Elliot Travel Service / Enggass Jewelry Company / Englander Furniture Shops / Fanny Farmer Candies / Father & Son Shoes / Fintex / Fisher Wallpaper & Paint Company / Great Lakes Seafood & Poultry / Nat Green Maternity Modes / Himelhoch's ladies' wear / Hot 'N' Kold Shop electronics & appliances / Household Finance Corporation / Hughes & Hatcher / G.R. Kinney Shoes / Kline's / Thom McAn Shoes / Macauley's / Marianne Shops ladies' wear / Marwil Book Company / Maskell Flowers, Incorporated / Maxwell's Toys & Records / Northland Portait Studio / Palmer's Sandwich Shop / Peter Pan Snack Shop / Phillip's Red Cross Shoes / Queen Cleaners & Dryers / Raimi's Curtains / Robelle Shops / Robinson Furniture / Sallan Jewelers / Sanders Candy / Schiller's Millinery / Stouffer's restaurant (outparcel) / Suzy Hats / The Cotton Shop ladies' wear / The Detroit Bank / The Detroit Free Press / The Detroit News / United Shirt Distributors / US Post Office / Van Horn's men's wear / Wilbur-Rogers / Wright-Kay Jewelers / Zuieback's Suburban ladies' wear

A diagram depicting the truck tunnel system at NORTHLAND CENTER. The half-mile-long network had one entrance portal and two exits. It included several office and storage spaces and a Civil Defense fallout shelter.

Drawing from the J.L. Hudson Company / Shopping Centers, Incorporated

A feature page from a Kresge Company annual report highlights the new Kresge store which is "a part of the world's largest shopping center."

Advert from the Kresge Company Annual Report 1954

The main entrance area of the mall consisted of a large open court and city bus stop. A customer pick-up zone for the Hudson's anchor store was on the lower level. The ground level transit terminal above was served by three DSR (Detroit Street Railway) bus routes, one Intertown Suburban Line route and two routes operated by Greyhound.
Photo from http://gruenassociates.com / Gruen Associates

In this snapshot, we see the Hudson's Northland perfume counter.

Photo from http://gruenassociates.com / Gruen Associates

The Hudson's Northland Millinery Department is seen in this vintage image.

Photo from Architectural Digest / June 1954 / Ben Schnall

This full-page ad appeared in the March 25, 1954 editions of a several Wolverine State newspapers. It thanked the local populace for the warm reception given to the newly-opened NORTHLAND shopping center 3 days earlier.
Advert from the J.L. Hudson Company / Shopping Centers, Incorporated

The NORTHLAND CENTER South Mall. The humongous Hudson's Northland anchor store is seen on the right.

Photo from Architectural Digest / June 1954 / Ben Schnall

Here, we see the Fountain Court. Building B and its Hughes & Hatcher apparel store is on the left.

Photo from Architectural Digest / June 1954 / Ben Schnall

The North Mall and south entrance of the mall's S.S. Kresge 5 & 10.
Photo from Colourpicture Publishers, Incorporated

Concourses at NORTHLAND CENTER were decorated by several statues. Here we see "Bear & Boy," which was sculpted by Marshall Fredericks.

Photo from Colourpicture Publishers, Incorporated

An 18-acre parcel on the south end of the mall site was developed in the early 1960s. The first Northland Point structure (on the left) was Stouffer's Northland Inn. This 192-room hotel opened in November 1962. Second in line was the Northland Medical Center (lower right). It was dedicated in January 1963. The first building of the Northland Towers (upper center) began leasing office suites in June 1963.

Drawing from the H.L. Vokes Company

The first -and only- cinematic venue to operate at the mall was built on a pad adjacent to its north parking area. The Northland Theatre welcomed its first patrons in November 1966.
Graphic from Suburban Detroit Theaters, Incorporated

The NORTHLAND and EASTLAND centers were enclosed and climate-controlled simultaneously. The 50 million dollar dual renovation of the properties commenced in July 1973. Both mall's emerged fully-enclosed in August 1975.
Graphic from the Dayton Hudson Corporation

A view of the mammoth mall soon after it made the change from outdoor to indoor. A new J.C. Penney may be seen in the lower right. This store, which encompassed 284,000 square feet, was one of the largest in the chain, then based in New York City.
Photo from Malls of America Blogspot

A circa-'75 site plan shows original store block designations in green. The circa-1954 mall encompassed Building A through F. Buildings G and H were added in the early '60s, with Building I completed in 1969. By the time of the 1970s enclosure (in lighter gray), these designations were becoming redundant.

An aerial view from the mid-1970s shows the sheer size of the sprawling shopopolis. It covered approximately 1.5 million leasable square feet and contained 168 stores and services beneath its newly-added roof.

Photo from Library of Congress / Balthazar Korab Studios, Limited

By 1996, the bus stop area at the front of the mall has been filled with inline stores (medium gray). A MainStreet store opened in 1988, morphed into Kohl's (1989) and then Jeepers (1994). Montgomery Ward reconfigured existing space, with their store also opening in 1994. At the time of this plan, Target has just dedicated a store on the mall's southwest corner.

The mall entrance of the aforementioned Target. Encompassing 116,000 square feet, it welcomed first shoppers in March of 1996.
Photo from www.shopatnorthland.com

A snapshot showing Hudson's just before it was refitted with a Marshall Field's nameplate, in August 2001. The store was rebranded as a Macy's in September 2006.
Photo from http://www.history.sandiego.edu

NORTHLAND CENTER turned 60 in March 2014. After all of its years in business, it still held the distinction of largest shopping center in The Wolverine State. The complex covered approximately 1,680,000 leasable square feet and housed 150 store spaces.
Photo from http://www.history.sandiego.edu

NORTHLAND, circa-2014. The closings of Target and Macy's, in 2015, would leave the mall anchor-less. Nearly 50-percent vacant, the entirety of NORTHLAND CENTER was shuttered in April 2015, ending over half a century of commerce.

When NORTHLAND was enclosed in the 1970s, the "Bear & Boy" statue seen above was moved inside. It was relocated to the Southfield Public Library in May 2016.
Photo from www.shopatnorthland.com

A vacant NORTHLAND MALL was sold to Michigan's Contour Companies in 2017. They got the proverbial ball rolling and broke ground on the NORTHLAND CITY CENTER project in October 2021. This unique mall repurpose is rebuilding the circa-1954 structures, using their original Mid-Century Modern design aesthetic. Notice the vintage NORTHLAND CENTER signage above.

Drawing from Contour Companies

NORTHLAND CITY CENTER will incorporate retail, entertainment, office and residential components. The 403 million dollar mall redevelopment will be comprised of 1,500 apartment units, 254 loft-type apartments, two blocks of townhomes and around 674,900 square feet of commercial space.

Drawing from Contour Companies

NORTHLAND CENTER
Northwestern Highway and 8 Mile Road
Oakland County (Southfield), Michigan

The third mall-type center designed by architect Victor Gruen was the first that was actually built. NORTHLAND CENTER was situated on a 163-acre tract, located 10 miles northwest of center city Detroit, in an unincorporated section of Oakland County known as Southfield Township. Ground was broken on May 7, 1952.

When completed, the complex was a sprawling, 1,040,200 square foot, open-air structure. It encompassed 2 levels. The ground floor was devoted entirely to retail. A basement included lower levels for the larger stores, two subterranean shopping concourses, storage areas, mall offices, a US Post Office, Community Room and truck tunnel network. During the mall's early years, the basement was also maintained as a fallout shelter.

A 4-level (486,200 square foot) J.L. Hudson, the first suburban location in the Detroit-based chain, was situated in the center of the cluster-type mall. This store was surrounded by five retail blocks and seven open court areas. All enclosed structures were air-conditioned and there were twelve escalators. Court areas featured fountains and over 8,000 trees, shrubs and flowering plants. Prerecorded music could be heard over a system of loudspeakers.

Thirteen sculptures had been designed by six artisans. These works included "Water Mobile" and "Fish Group" (by Richard Hall Jennings), "Turtle" (by Arthur Craft),"Baby Elephant" and "Giraffe Family" (by Malcom Moran), "Birds of Flight" (by Gwen Lux) and "Bear & Boy" (by Marshall Fredericks).

The 30 million dollar shopping venue officially opened for business on March 22, 1954, with sixty-seven stores and services. Within months, a total of eighty-one were in operation. At the time of the mall's completion, its 7,500 car parking area was the largest in the world. It was divided into ten lots designated as A through J.

In keeping with the 1950s concept of a regional retail center, the mall was a one-stop shopping destination. In its original configuration, NORTHLAND CENTER included ten dress shops, seven shoe stores, three millinery shops, three jewelry shops, four home furnishing & appliance stores, five men's & boy's shops and four restaurants, as well as a bank, 5 & 10, supermarket, garden supply store, medical clinic, record store, drug store, beauty parlor, lost children office and 300-seat Community Room. The mall even had its own fire department.

Charter tenants included Hughes & Hatcher men's wear, Winkelman's and Himelhoch's ladies' wear, Barna-bee Children's Shops, Robinson Furniture, Baker's Shoes, Chandler's Shoes, Sanders Candy, the Hot 'N' Kold Shop (home appliances & electronics), a Kroger supermarket and S.S. Kresge 5 & 10.

The area surrounding -and including- the shopping center was incorporated, as the City of Southfield, in April 1958. Vehicular access was improved in 1962, when the James Couzens (later John C. Lodge) Expressway was extended from Detroit's Wyoming Avenue to 8 Mile Road.

By this time, other shopping malls were being developed in the NORTHLAND trade area. These included LIVONIA MALL (1964-2009) {6.8 miles southwest, in Livonia}), WESTLAND CENTER (1965) {11.9 miles southwest, in Westland}and TEL-TWELVE MALL (1968-2001) {4.7 miles northwest, also in Southfield}.

As a result, NORTHLAND CENTER had been expanded. Hudson's added a 5th floor in 1960, with the store enlarged to 537,000 square feet. The Building G and Building H blocks, on the south end of the complex, were completed in the early '60s, adding stores such as Tall Eez Shoes and Best & Company. Stores in Building I, on the mall's north end, began opening in the fall of 1969. These included G.Q. Modern Shoppe, Barclay Gallery Limited and B. Dalton Bookseller.

The first -and only- motion picture venue to operate at the mall was built adjacent to its north parking area. The Suburban Detroit Theaters, Incorporated Northland Theatre debuted on November 17, 1966. The cinema was twinned in November 1976 and came under the American Multi-Cinema brand in June 1986. It was shuttered in January 1990 and re-opened as Millenium Center -a Bollywood and live-performance venue- in April 2000.

Meanwhile, a mall-wide NORTHLAND renovation was done between July 1973 and August 1975. A 2-level (284,000 square foot) J.C. Penney was built on the northeast corner. The store opened its doors, in unison with a brand new EASTLAND location, on May 21, 1975. The second phase of the 25 million dollar remodeling enclosed the mall. NORTHLAND CENTER re-opened, as a fully-enclosed shopping facility, on August 3, 1975. With its twenty-one store expansion, it now encompassed approximately 1.5 million leasable square feet and featured 102 stores and services.

A bus stop area at the front of the shopping hub was filled with a new block of inline stores in 1980-1981. By the mid-1980s, several major tenants had vacated, including S.S. Kresge, Jo-Ann Fabrics and The Limited. Illinois-based MainStreet joined the tenant list on March 12, 1988. This 1-level (61,000 square foot) store would be rebranded by Wisconsin-based Kohl's on March 19, 1989.

A new decade brought a 7 million dollar indoor-outdoor face lift. New lighting, ceilings, flooring and skylights were installed. An 8-bay Food Court was created in existing mall space. The culinary complex opened in November 1991.

Montgomery Ward gutted store space in two northwest blocks, creating a 2-level (118,400 square foot) store. This opened for business on November 19, 1994. A (40,300 square foot) T.J. Maxx had welcomed first customers on November 10th. The openings of these new stores was followed by the shuttering of another. Kohl's pulled out of the mall in 1995. A 1-level (116,000 square foot) Target made its debut on March 10, 1996. Montgomery Ward closed its "underperforming" store in early 1998.

The mall changed hands in the year 2000; its new owner being Jager Management, Incorporated of Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. J.C. Penney shuttered their NORTHLAND store in June of the year same year. The vacant Montgomery Ward was leased to National Wholesale Liquidators, who opened in October 2004 but closed in November 2008. Hudson's was rebranded as Marshall Field's in August 2001 and morphed into a Macy's in September 2006.

By this time, the 1,680,000 square foot NORTHLAND CENTER was struggling. New York City's Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation acquired the complex in December 2008 and hired Chicago's Jones Lang Lasalle as its manager. In late 2014, Ashkenazy defaulted on their 31 million dollar loan, sending the property into receivership. 3 million dollars were also owed in back taxes and utility bills. An estimated 6 million dollars were needed to complete various repairs.

In February 2015, an Oakland County judge approved plans to vacate and shutter the historic shopping hub. It closed on April 10, 2015. The shuttering of the NORTHLAND CENTER Target, on February 1, 2015, had left the massive mall with just one anchor to sustain it. Cincinnati's Macy's Inc. announced that this store would also be closing. This transpired on March 23, 2015, leaving the shopping hub anchor-less.

Between the mid-1990s and early 21st century, ownership of NORTHLAND CENTER had changed four times. The fourth transaction, which closed in October 2015, transferred the deed of the shuttered shopping center to the City of Southfield. Demolition of the Target and Firestone buildings commenced in October 2017. IMAGINE NORTHLAND, a redevelopment plan for the remainder of the mall, was drawn up but eventually abandoned.

In July 2021, Contour Companies, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, acquired the mall. Bruce Kopytek, Chief Architect, would oversee its redevelopment as NORTHLAND CITY CENTER. Under this plan, the original anchor store would be restored and reconfigured as the Hudson City Market.

This facility would include a food hall, entertainment venues, home furnishings mart and leased office spaces. The inline store sections of the original mall would be repurposed as 254 loft apartments. The J.C. Penney and Main Street-Kohl's structures, added to NORTHLAND CENTER in the 1970s and '80s, would be demolished.

Multi-story buildings, containing apartments, town homes and street-level retail, would be built, with patches of greenspace and parking facilities also created. Old and new structures would incorporate the Mid-Century Modern architecture used for the original 1954 mall. Ground was broken for Phase One on October 7, 2021. It is projected that Phases One and Two will be complete by 2027.

Sources:

The Detroit Free Press

The Milwaukee Journal

The Record-Eagle (Traverse City, Michigan)

The Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa, Ontario)

The Birmingham Eccentric (Birmingham, Michigan)

"Shopping Centers: Locating Controlled Regional Centers" Eugene J. Kelley -1956

preservenet.cornell.edu/publications/Longstreth Branch Store.doc

http://www.michiganhighways.org

http://cinematreasures.org

Northland Center Leasing Plan / GP Northland Center, LLC

"Images of Modern America-Northland Mall" / Gerald E. Naftaly

http://www.shopatnorthland.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

http://www.aacrealty.com / Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation

http://www.crainsdetroit.com

http://www.imaginenorthland.com

www.michigansthumb.com

https://www.contourcompanies.com

https://apnews.com

https://www.cnu.org

https://www.northlandcitycenter.com

FAIR USE OF NORTHLAND CENTER IMAGES:

The images from Architectural Digest / June 1954 illustrate a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The images are not replaceable with free-use or public-domain images. The use of the images does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute the images in any way. The images are being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and their use is not believed to detract from the original images in any way.

San Jose's Valley Fair Center

North Court in the original, open-air VALLEY FAIR CENTER. The mosaic-tiled tower on the left was part of an exhaust system for a subterranean shipping and receiving area.
Photo from the Milligan News Agency

A circa-1956 site plan of the original VALLEY FAIR CENTER. In its early years, the mall had only a single anchor...Macy's California. The other large store space indicated here housed a supermarket.

A mid-'60s VALLEY FAIR view, with the adjacent STEVENS CREEK PLAZA in the upper left corner. The California Route 17 expressway runs along the bottom of the photo (or the east side of VALLEY FAIR CENTER). The highway was opened to traffic in the late 1950s.
Photo from Malls of America Blogspot

A stunning nighttime shot of the VALLEY FAIR CENTER Macy's, showing its high-end, Mid-Mod design.
Photo from http://www.flickr.com / "HmDavid"

A shopping concourse in the original VALLEY FAIR CENTER.
Photo from http://www.flickr.com / "HmDavid"

In the mid-1980s, the bulk of VALLEY FAIR CENTER was demolished. Its Macy's was incorporated into a newly-built, connecting corridor mall (shown in light gray). It linked the store with structures originally part of STEVENS CREEK PLAZA (indicated in black). The amalgamated shopping hub was called simply VALLEY FAIR. Over on the east side, the route of California 17 had been redesignated as Interstate 880.

A circa-2002 site plan shows all of the changes done to the mall since the 1980s. The 1986 structure (shown in black) has been expanded with a second mallway (indicated in medium gray) linking a new Nordstrom with the original Macy's (now a Women's Store). Three parking garages have also been added. WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN VALLEY FAIR now houses 1,473,500 leasable square feet.

WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN VALLEY FAIR TENANTS 2002:

MACY'S WOMEN'S (with Styling Salon and Boudin Sourdough Bakery) / MACY'S MEN'S / NORDSTROM (With Nordstrom Cafe) / SAFEWAY supermarket (ouptrarcel) / 800 Pillows.com / Abe / abercrombie children's wear / Abercrombie & Fitch apparel / Aeropostale apparel / Aerosoles shoes / Aldo shoes / American Eagle Outfitters / Anchor Blue apparel / Ancient Creations jewelry / Ann Taylor ladies' wear / April Cornell ladies' wear / Apple Store / A|X Armani Exchange apparel / Arden B. ladies' wear/ Aveda cosmetics / Bailey, Banks & Biddle Jewelers / Bakers shoes / Barcelinoa / Bare Escentuals / Banana Republic Flagship apparel / Bang & Olufsen home electronics / Bank of America (outparcel) / Bath & Body Works cosmetics / Bebe ladies' wear / Ben Bridge Jeweler / Benetton / Body Options / Bose home electronics / Boss Hugo Boss apparel / Brentanos Books / Brighton Collectibles / Brookstone electronics / Build-A-Bear Workshop / Cache ladies' wear / California Cafe / California Pizza Kitchen / Canyon Beachwear / Casa de Fruta / Cathy Jean shoes / Charles David shoes / Charlotte's Room / Claire's accessories / Clarks shoes / Clinique (kiosk) / Club Monaco ladies' wear / Coldwater Creek ladies' wear / Coach accessories / Copeland's Sports / Crabtree & Evelyn cosmetics / Creative Jewelers / Creative Jewelry / Crescent Jewelers/ Crocodile Cafe / Davante / Davidson & Licht Jewelers / Discovery Channel Store / Doctor Holbert, Optometrist / Easy Spirit shoes / EBX / Eddie Bauer apparel / Electronics Boutique / Enzo Angiolini shoes / Express ladies' wear / Fantasy Beauty Spa / Fashionize / Florsheim Shoes / Foot Locker / Forever 21 young ladies' wear / Franklin Covey-Quest / Fred Meyer Jewelers / Gap Kids children's wear / Gary's Tux Shop / Godiva Chocolatier / Goodyear Tire & Auto (outparcel) / Grain D'Or Restaurant / Great Earth Vitamins / Guess? apparel / Gymboree children's wear / Hat World / Helzberg Diamonds / Hot Topic apparel / Icing by Claire's / Illuminations / Impostors / J. Crew apparel / Jayne's Hallmark / J. Jill ladies' wear / Jessica McClintock ladies' wear / Johnston & Murphy shoes / Journeys Kidz / Journeys shoes / Jurlique the Spa Store/ Kay-Bee Toys / Kenneth Cole men's wear / Kids Footlocker / King of Knives / L'Uomo men's wear / Lady Foot Locker / Lane Bryant ladies' wear / Le Parfum / Leonidas Chocolates / Lens Crafters 2000 / Lens Crafters Optique / Limited Too ladies wear / Liz Claiborne Petites / Longs Drugs (outparcel) / Louis Vuitton / Lucky Brand Dungarees / Lucy ladies' wear / LuNa Hoku jewelry / Lundstrom Jewelers / Malm Luggage / Martin Lawrence Galleries / M.A.C. cosmetics / MasterCuts / Max Mara ladies' wear / Max Studio / Mimi Maternite / Mishmash / Mr. Rags men's wear / Mont Blanc / Morgan of Paris / Naartjie / Nextel Cellular Origins / Nine West shoes / Organized Living / Pacific Sunwear / Papyrus stationers / Petite Sophisticate ladies wear / Pottery Barn housewares / Pottery Barn Kids children's wear / Prints Plus / Rampage ladies' wear / Regis Hairstylists / Ritz Camera One Hour Photo /Restoration Hardware / Rockport shoes / St. Croix Shop men's wear / Stride Rite shoes / Structure / Sam Goody Music / Samuel's Jewelers / Sanrio / See's Candies / Sharper Image / Silver & Gold Connection / Sephora cosmetics / Solstice / Speedo / Spencer Gifts / Starbucks Coffee / Stern's Luggage / Steve Madden shoes / Structure / Suncoast Motion Picture Company / Sunglass Hut / Sunglass Hut Sport / Sun Shade Optique I / Sun Shade Optique 2 / Sushi Boat / Swarovski / Swatch / Sweet Factory / Talbots / The Body Shop cosmetics / The Bombay Company home furnishings / The Children's Place children's wear / The Disney Store / The Gap apparel / The Jewelry Box / The Museum Company / The Picture People portait studio / The Right Start / The Sak / The Sleep Number Store by Select Comfort / The Walking Company shoes / Tie Rack / Things Remembered / Thomas Kinkade Gallery / Tie Rack / Tiffany & Company / Timberland / Tommy Hilfiger men's wear / Trade Secret / Trend By L' Uomo men's wear / Victoria's Secret cosmetics / Yankee Candle Company / Washington Mutual Bank (outparcel) / Watch Station / Watch World International / Wells- Fargo Bank (outparcel) / Wet Seal ladies' wear / Wetzel's Pretzels / Whitehall Company Jewellers / Wig 'N Out / Williams-Sonoma housewares / Wilson's The Leather Experts / Winners / Zales Jewelers / Zumiez apparel / Zutopia apparel

FOOD COURT:

Auntie Anne's Pretzels / Boudin Sourdough Bakery / California Crisp / Cinnabon / Great Khan's Mongolian Festival / Ivar's Seafood Bar / Jamba Juice / McDonald's hamburgers / Mrs Fields Cookies / Muscle Beach Lemonade / Panda Express / Rubio's Baja Grill / Sarku Japan / Sbarro the Italian Eatery / Steak Escape

WESTFIELD VALLEY FAIR in 2014. The mall has just emerged from a minor redo, where two sections were remodeled. Near Nordstrom, a "Luxury Collection" was created. On Level 2, the existing Food Court was refashioned into a "Dining Terrace".

The uber upscale Luxury Collection wing features names such as Cartier, TAG Heuer and Wolford. Stores heralded as "fashion forward" and "first-to-market" translate to very expensive.
Drawing from www.westfield.com / The Westfield Corporation

The new Dining Terrace features Pizza Vino Bar, Super Duper, Chicken Wow, Old Port Lobster and Panda Express...to name a few.
Drawing from www.westfield.com / The Westfield Corporation

If the mall wasn't already big enough, it certainly was when a 1.1 billion dollar expansion was completed. A long-delayed remodeling got underway in 2016. By 2020, a 2,200,000 square foot buying behemoth featured a fourth anchor (Bloomingdale's). There were also a third major shopping concourse, two high-tech "digital garages" and a movie theater (the first in the mall's 60-year history).