County Road 10 and Xerxes Avenue North
Village of Brooklyn Center (City of Brooklyn Center), Minnesota
The second Dayton Company-developed shopping mall was designed by Los Angeles' Victor Gruen Associates. BROOKDALE CENTER was built on an 88-acre tract, located 9.7 miles northwest of center city Minneapolis, in a section of Hennepin County known as the Village of Brooklyn Center. The site was adjacent to the route of MN 100 / Highway 100.
Comprised of a single retail level, the original BROOKDALE CENTER covered approximately 431,000 leasable square feet. The fully-enclosed shopping venue was co-anchored by a 2-level (53,000 square foot) J.C. Penney. This store opened, as part of a mall-wide dedication, on March 5, 1962. A 2-level (185,000 square foot) Sears was inaugurated on May 17 of the same year. Charter inline stores included an F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10, Snyder Brothers Drug, Brookdale Pet Center and in-mall Super Valu supermarket.
A major expansion of the structure began in 1965. The mall proper was doubled in size, with the existing Penney's enlarged into a full-line (140,300 square foot) store. The first phase of the renovation included a 2-level (195,300 square foot), Minneapolis-based Dayton's. This store was officially dedicated on August 2, 1966.
The second expansion phase at BROOKDALE CENTER added a 2-level (140,300 square foot), Minneapolis-based Donaldson's. This store held its grand opening on September 27, 1967. The final segment of the 1967 renovation consisted of the construction of a freestanding Red Owl supermarket. This store occupied an octagonal, Mid-Century Modern building. It opened for business in October 1967. BROOKDALE CENTER now spanned approximately 875,000 leasable square feet and contained fifty-three stores and services.
The Village of Brooklyn Center had incorporated as a city in 1966. The Dayton Company went public in 1967, becoming the Dayton Corporation. This merged with Detroit's J.L. Hudson Company in 1969, becoming the Dayton Hudson Corporation.
A small-scale renovation of BROOKDALE took place in 1970. This was followed by a second face lift remodeling in 1983. By this time, the shopping venue had three commercial competitors. The first was NORTHTOWN MALL (1972) {5.4 miles northeast, in Blaine}. The original (Dayton-developed) siblings, ROSEDALE CENTER (1969) {7.5 miles southeast, in Roseville} and RIDGEDALE CENTER (1974) {8.2 miles southwest, in Minnetonka}, were sold in 1978. With this transaction, they became retail rivals of BROOKDALE.
Anchor nameplate changes got underway at BROOKDALE CENTER on August 10, 1988, with the conversion of Donaldson's into a Chicago-based Carson Pirie Scott. This store was rebranded as a Mervyn's on July 29, 1995. It closed for good in July 2004. The Dayton's store became a Marshall Field's on August 9, 2001. It received a Macy's nameplate on September 9, 2006 and closed for good in early 2009.
J.C. Penney pulled out of BROOKDALE CENTER on February 28, 2004. The store space re-opened, as a Steve & Barry's University Sportswear, on September 14, 2005. This operation was shuttered in late 2008.
Meanwhile, a major renovation of the shopping venue had got underway in 2001. The northwest section of the mall was demolished. A new wing was built, which was anchored by Barnes & Noble, Old Navy and an 8-bay Food Court. The northeast mall entrance was also rebuilt. New stores joined the retail roster, such as Kay Jewelers, Forever 21, Goose Creek Tavern & Grill and Karmelkorn-Orange Julius.
The 60 million dollar project was completed in October 2002, with the mall now enveloping 984,100 leasable square feet and housing over seventy-five stores and services. At this time, the complex was owned and operated by Talisman Companies, of Coral Gables, Florida. In July 2005, Brooks Mall Properties, also of Coral Gables, Florida, acquired the facility.
The mall had entered a downward spiral in 2004. After years of decline, it was shuttered on April 26, 2010, leaving only Sears in business. The property was foreclosed on in mid-2010, with the Horsham, Pennsylvania-based Capmark Financial Group assuming ownership. A demalling, conducted by the Dickson, Tennessee-based Gatlin Development Company, was put in motion.
Demolition commenced in June 2011, leaving only Sears, the (124,000 square foot) Food Court section, and freestanding Kohl's and Applebee's structures standing. These were worked into SHINGLE CREEK CROSSING, an open-air power center. Construction commenced in October 2011. A 1-level (186,200 square foot) WalMart SuperCenter was officially dedicated on September 12, 2012. The power center lost one of its two anchors 6 years later. The 56-year-old Sears was shuttered in September 2018.
Sources:
The Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Dayton Company Annual Report 1966
Dayton Company Annual Report 1967
www.gatlindc.com / Gatlin Development
Hennepin County, Minnesota tax assessor website
http://www.brookdaleshoppingcenter.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
Comment posts by Joe and Andrew
http://www.cityofbrooklyncenter.org
www.gatlindc.com / Gatlin Development
Hennepin County, Minnesota tax assessor website
http://www.brookdaleshoppingcenter.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
Comment posts by Joe and Andrew
http://www.cityofbrooklyncenter.org
"Brookdale Center" article on Wikipedia
FAIR USE OF BROOKDALE CENTER IMAGES:
The photographs from The Minneapolis Star Tribune 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.
FAIR USE OF BROOKDALE CENTER IMAGES:
The photographs from The Minneapolis Star Tribune 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.
