Montgomery and Kenwood Roads
Hamilton County, Ohio
Following the late 1980s reinvention of the KENWOOD PLAZA strip center, tenants in KENWOOD MALL began to relocate into the new KENWOOD TOWNE CENTRE. At first, Atlanta-based ERE Yarmouth, who owned KENWOOD MALL, considered redeveloping the property as an upscale enclosed shopping center.
Eventually, it was decided to remake the faltering retail complex into a big box-based power center. Cincinnati's Baxter-Hodell-Donnelly-Preston firm (who had designed the original mall) was enlisted to conceptualize the transformation. An 18.7 million dollar renovation commenced in March 1994.
This entailed gutting the interior of the mall and creating an enclosed and open-air facility. This would be comprised of 345,000 leasable square feet and contain sixteen stores and services. KENWOOD MALL tenants, such as the Lazarus Furniture Gallery, Staples, Wilson's Paints, LensCrafters and Firestone, leased space in -or around- the renewed retail center.
Newly-signed stores included a (35,300 square foot) Linens 'n Things, (35,000 square foot) Barnes & Noble, (41,600 square foot) All About Sports and (25,700 square foot) Old Navy. The revitalized complex, now known as SYCAMORE PLAZA AT KENWOOD, was dedicated on November 22, 1994.
The Cincinnati-based All About Sports chain was liquidated, with its SYCAMORE PLAZA store closing on July 26, 1997. Pittsburgh's Dick's Sporting Goods assumed the space. On March 6, 2005, the Lazarus Furniture Gallery was rebannered as a Macy's Furniture Gallery.
The shopping hub was sold to Beverly Hills-based RPP Realty Partners in the summer of 2004. They flipped the property in April 2008, with Jacksonville's Regency Centers becoming its new proprietor. A third sale was made to Beachwood, Ohio's Developers Diversified Realty Corporation. They acquired the complex, now known as SYCAMORE PLAZA, in August 2013.
Barnes & Noble pulled out of the PLAZA on December 31, 2013. The space was taken by T.J. Maxx, which welcomed its first shoppers in September 2014. Within a few years, Old Navy had pulled up stakes. An adjacent Staples store relocated within the complex. The two spaces were reconfigured as a new location for Dick's Sporting Goods. The new (82,600 square foot) store held its grand opening on October 15, 2016.
The center section of SYCAMORE PLAZA was also rebuilt. The vacant Dick's and adjacent Linens 'n Things spaces were refashioned into a combo (46,400 square foot) Marshalls-Home Goods. The remainder of the area became a (27,700 square foot) Michaels. Marshalls-HomeGoods began business on October 26, 2017.
By this time, the name of the shopping complex had been changed to KENWOOD SQUARE. Toys "R" Us closed, along with the entire chain, on June 29, 2018. The Developers Diversified Realty Corporation changed its name to SITE Centers Corporation in October 2018.
Sources:
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati Business Courier
http://www.danisbuilding.com (Danis Building Construction Company)
"New Retail Concepts" / www.thestrategicedge.com"
Sycamore Plaza Slated To Be Sold" / Cincinnati Post / 5-29-2004 / Greg Paeth
ULI Development Case Studies / Sycamore Plaza, Cincinnati, Ohio / 1997
http://www.regencycenters.com / Regency Centers
https://www.sitecenters.com
http://www.wcpo.com
"Lazarus" article on Wikipedia
"New Retail Concepts" / www.thestrategicedge.com"
Sycamore Plaza Slated To Be Sold" / Cincinnati Post / 5-29-2004 / Greg Paeth
ULI Development Case Studies / Sycamore Plaza, Cincinnati, Ohio / 1997
http://www.regencycenters.com / Regency Centers
https://www.sitecenters.com
http://www.wcpo.com
"Lazarus" article on Wikipedia
