North Central Expressway / US 75 and Park Lane
Dallas, Texas
The completion of Texas' BIG TOWN MALL, in 1959, inspired Raymond D. Nasher, a Dallas developer and art connoisseur. He began to plan a second interior mall for the Metroplex, which would be built on a 97-acre cotton field. This was located 7.2 miles north of Downtown Dallas, at the intersection of the North Central Expressway and Northwest Highway.
NORTHPARK CENTER was designed by E.G. Hamilton, of the Hamilton & Harrell (now Omniplan) firm, and Kevin Roche, of Eero Saarinen & Associates. John Dinkeloo also contributed to the layout of the original shopping center.
The complex was one of the first retail facilities in the nation to use a unified design aesthetic in construction and graphics. Built of white Texas brick with floors of highly-polished concrete, the fully-enclosed mall featured simple, clean lines. Several works of art in Raymond D. Nasher's personal collection were used to decorate interior and exterior spaces.
NORTHPARK CENTER originally housed three anchor department stores. A 3-level (250,500 square foot), Dallas-based Titche-Goettinger ["Tiytch Get-injer"] and 3-level (164,000 square foot) Neiman-Marcus were dedicated July 22, 1965. A 2-level (250,000 square foot) J.C. Penney opened for business -along with seventy-seven stores and services- on August 19, 1965.
A ribbon-cutting dedication included music by vocalist Gordon MacRae, the Richardson High School and Wilmer-Hutchins bands, a prayer by Rabbi Levi Olan and speech by Raymond D. Nasher. Charter NORTHPARK tenants included Marriott Cafeteria, Doubleday Book Shop, SupeRx Drugs, Singer Sewing Center, Melody Shop and an F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10. There were also two large outparcels. A (47,000 square foot) Kroger was situated in a Convenience Center. The General Cinema Corporation NorthPark Cinema I & II was dedicated on September 9, 1965.
Major shopping hubs in the NORTHPARK CENTER trade area included TOWN EAST MALL (1971) {4.3 miles southeast, in Mesquite}, VALLEY VIEW CENTER (1973) {4.3 miles northwest, in Dallas}, RICHARDSON SQUARE (1977) {6.4 miles northeast, in Richardson} and GALLERIA DALLAS (1982) {4.5 miles northwest, also in Dallas}.
The first expansion of NORTHPARK CENTER was completed in the mid-1970s. A 2-level (135,000 square foot) Lord & Taylor opened its doors on April 8, 1974. A 2-level -thirty-store- Northwest Wing was dedicated on August 7th of the same year. Four parking structures were also built. The mall now encompassed 1.3 million leasable square feet.
The mall's first anchor rebranding transpired in the late 1970s. Titche-Goettinger morphed into a San Antonio-based Joske's on February 4, 1979. Stores in the Joske's chain, including the NORTHPARK location, were rebranded by Dillard's in 1987.
Meanwhile, on October 11, 1984, the Neiman-Marcus at NORTHPARK held a grand re-opening celebration. A fourth level had been added, increasing the size of the building to 218,000 square feet. Dillard's was expanded with a fourth floor, as well. This enlargement project was completed in October 1994, with that store now encompassing 299,500 square feet.
J.C. Penney pulled up stakes in August 1999. The abandoned store was torn down, with a 2-level (250,000 square foot), Houston-based Foley's opening on October 6, 2000. The freestanding twin cinema had closed in 1998 and was bulldozed in 2001. Lord & Taylor, who conducted a retail retraction during 2004, closed their NORTHPARK location early in the year. With this store -and the cinema- now sitting vacant, plans for a major mall expansion were given impetus.
Nancy Nasher and husband David Haemisegger sold a fifty-percent interest in their family-run shopping hub to Santa Monica's Macerich Company, while retaining full operational control. Dallas-based Omniplan Architects were recruited to design a North Wing expansion. Ground was broken for the 235 million dollar project in May 2004.
North and northwest parking garages were demolished. A 3-level (203,000 square foot) Nordstrom was built, along with a 2-level (260,000 square foot) mall concourse. The new wing housed the American Multi-Cinema Northpark 15 and NorthPark Cafes Food Court. Two new parking garages were also built.
The expansion reconfigured the tri-wing mall as a four-concourse quadrangle, surrounding a 1.4 acre CenterPark green space. The new NORTHPARK CENTER, officially dedicated May 5, 2006, now encompassed approximately 1,809,800 leasable square feet and contained 220 stores and services.
On September 29, 2006, Barney's New York opened a branch of their luxury department stores (the second to operate in the mall). The new NORTHPARK location, occupying part of the old Lord & Taylor, encompassed 2-levels and 88,000 square feet. In November of 2012, the Nasher-Haemiseggers bought back the share of NORTHPARK that had been sold to the Macerich Company in 2004. This returned the shopping center to family ownership.
After over 6 years in operation, the NORTHPARK Barney's New York shut its doors for good. Following the store's shuttering, in April 2013, its area was divided into five tenant spaces. On the first level were Nepresso (a gourmet coffee boutique) and relocated Kate Spade and C.H. Carolina Herrera locations.
Barney's second level was refitted with two stores. PIRCH (a San Diego-based home appliance, plumbing fixture and outdoor furniture emporium) was dedicated August 23, 2014. Cleveland-based Arhaus Furniture debuted on November 14th of the same year.
The mall's PIRCH store was short-lived, for the chain did a retail retraction during 2017. Locations in Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Georgia and Texas were shuttered, with only stores in California remaining in business. The NORTHPARK location went dark on September 30, 2017.
Sources:
The Dallas Morning News
http://www.northparkcenter.com
Dallas County, Texas tax assessment website
http://www.dart.org
https://www.cinematreasures.org
On September 29, 2006, Barney's New York opened a branch of their luxury department stores (the second to operate in the mall). The new NORTHPARK location, occupying part of the old Lord & Taylor, encompassed 2-levels and 88,000 square feet. In November of 2012, the Nasher-Haemiseggers bought back the share of NORTHPARK that had been sold to the Macerich Company in 2004. This returned the shopping center to family ownership.
After over 6 years in operation, the NORTHPARK Barney's New York shut its doors for good. Following the store's shuttering, in April 2013, its area was divided into five tenant spaces. On the first level were Nepresso (a gourmet coffee boutique) and relocated Kate Spade and C.H. Carolina Herrera locations.
Barney's second level was refitted with two stores. PIRCH (a San Diego-based home appliance, plumbing fixture and outdoor furniture emporium) was dedicated August 23, 2014. Cleveland-based Arhaus Furniture debuted on November 14th of the same year.
The mall's PIRCH store was short-lived, for the chain did a retail retraction during 2017. Locations in Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Georgia and Texas were shuttered, with only stores in California remaining in business. The NORTHPARK location went dark on September 30, 2017.
Sources:
The Dallas Morning News
http://www.northparkcenter.com
Dallas County, Texas tax assessment website
http://www.dart.org
https://www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.dallasnews.com
http://architype.org/project/northpark-center / "Architype Review"
http://openbuildings.com / Northpark Center / "Open Buildings"
"Northpark Center" article on Wikipedia
http://architype.org/project/northpark-center / "Architype Review"
http://openbuildings.com / Northpark Center / "Open Buildings"
"Northpark Center" article on Wikipedia
