Branch Avenue and Iverson Street
Prince George's County (Temple Hills), Maryland
Developers in -and around- Washington, DC were slow in building the region's first climate-controlled shopping mall. This seems especially odd when considering that Greater Baltimore, 30 miles north, had done so as early as 1958. Be that as it may, DC did catch up. Its first fully-enclosed retail center opened in the late 1960s.
IVERSON MALL was built on a 9.3-acre tract, located 4.6 miles southeast of the United States Capitol, in the unincorporated Prince George's County suburb of Temple Hills. The 10 million dollar facility was envisaged by Washington's Anthony A. Carozza. He had been the primary developer of the adjacent, 2000-unit, Hillcrest Heights subdivision between the years 1946 and 1965.
The tentative name of the retail hub, ANTON MALL, was an amalgamation of Anthony (Carozza) and wife Anna Louise. Construction was underway by 1965. A 2-level (157,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward opened for business April 20, 1966. This was followed by the dedication of a 3-level (144,000 square foot), Washington-based Woodward & Lothrop ["Low-thrup"], which was held on July 31, 1967.
A mall-wide grand opening took place September 21, 1967, with tenants such as Lawrence Reed, Limited and Buster Brown Shoes welcoming their first patrons. IVERSON MALL encompassed approximately 526,700 leasable square feet and housed seventy-seven store spaces.
The complex had a unique design, in that it straddled the Iverson Street thoroughfare, which divided it at midpoint. There was a multilevel parking garage along the rear, connecting into a bi-level shopping concourse in front. The Upper Mall stretched between the two anchor stores; with the Lower Mall divided into two sections by Iverson Street.
Major shopping hubs in the IVERSON MALL trade area included the adjacent MARLOWE HEIGHTS CENTER (1957), CAPITAL PLAZA (1963) {7.1 miles northeast, in Prince George's County}, LANDOVER MALL (1972) {7.2 miles northeast, in Prince George's County} and FOREST VILLAGE PARK MALL (1980) {3.2 miles northeast, also in Prince George's County}.
The interior of IVERSON MALL was renovated in 1985, with all fountains being removed. By 1995, one of two original anchor stores had closed. After this, the center evolved from a regional shopping hub into a community-class venue.
The north anchor spot, originally occupied by Woodward & Lothrop, was retenanted by a 2-level (136,000 square foot), Columbus, Ohio-based Value City apparel. A (42,000 square foot) Furniture Galaxy leased the lower floor. Value City opened November 1, 1996 and was shuttered February 15, 2008.
The vacant Value City space became a Burlington Coat Factory in the fall of 2008. When Furniture Galaxy was shuttered, a (27,800 square foot) section was reconfigured as a sanctuary for the Community of Hope AME Church.
The mall's south anchor, vacated by Montgomery Ward in March 2001, was divided into two sections. Philadelphia's Forman Mills set up shop in the (66,300 square foot) Lower Level and opened on November 26, 2004. A (60,000 square foot) Total Save variety store assumed the upper level space.
In July 2014, IVERSON MALL was sold to a joint venture of Pikesville, Maryland's America's Realty and Washington's West End Capital Group. Soon after the transaction closed, a Henderson, North Carolina-based Roses opened, which occupied space recently vacated by Total Save.
A comprehensive indoor-outdoor renovation was announced in September 2016. The 57 million dollar project, financed by a loan from the Prince George's County Economic Development Incentive Fund, would install "Main Street" facades along the mall's east facade, reorient various stores with exterior entrances, retenant the 4-story Office Building and refurbish all common areas.
As part of the revitalization, the shopping hub was renamed THE SHOPS AT IVERSON. Burlington (Coat Factory) pulled up stakes in 2019 and was proceeded by Shoppers World, which opened its doors in November 2020. Other new mall tenants included Chipotle Mexican Grill, WingStop and Mamma Lucia.
Sources:
The Washington Post
Sources:
The Washington Post
The Montgomery County Sentinel (Rockville, Maryland)
www.iversonmall.com
www.goprincegeorgescounty.com
www.labelscar.com
www.mncppcapps.org / "Hillcrest Heights Community Survey" / EHT Traceries, Incorporated / January 2009
"Iverson Mall" Flyer / H & R Retail, Inc. / Chevy Chase, Maryland
www.americasrealtyllc.com
www.renaudconsulting.net
http://shopsativerson.com
www.iversonmall.com
www.goprincegeorgescounty.com
www.labelscar.com
www.mncppcapps.org / "Hillcrest Heights Community Survey" / EHT Traceries, Incorporated / January 2009
"Iverson Mall" Flyer / H & R Retail, Inc. / Chevy Chase, Maryland
www.americasrealtyllc.com
www.renaudconsulting.net
http://shopsativerson.com
https://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov
"Iverson Mall" article on Wikipedia
