BEL AIR MALL
Airport and Bel Air Boulevards
Mobile, Alabama
The Azalea City's first fully-enclosed shopping center was built on a 99-acre parcel, located 4 miles west of center city Mobile. The complex, designed by Washington, DC's Herbert H. Johnson & Associates, was developed by a joint venture of Kenneth R. Giddens, William Lyon, Jay Altmayer and the Mobile-based Mitchell Company.
The grand opening of BEL AIR MALL took place on August 16, 1967. The single-level center encompassed approximately 514,600 leasable square feet, with its anchor stores being a 1-level (104,400 square foot), Mobile-based Hammel's and 1-level (142,800 square foot) Sears.
Charter tenants included Lerner Shops, Goldstein's Jewelers, Singer Sewing Center, Piccadilly Cafeteria, Dipper Dan Ice Cream Shoppe and an F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10. A freestanding Convenience Center in the east parking area housed a Winn-Dixie supermarket. The Giddens & Rester Cinema was built as a western outparcel of the mall. It showed its first feature in 1969. The venue was twinned in 1980 and renamed Bel Air Cinema.
The shopping center was located across Airport Boulevard from SPRINGDALE PLAZA, which had opened in 1959. This open-air strip complex was renovated into the enclosed SPRINGDALE MALL in 1973-1974. As a keeping up measure, a 409,200 square foot South Wing was added to BEL AIR MALL. It featured a 2-level (191,000 square foot) J.C. Penney, which opened for business on September 19, 1974.
This project included a new second level for the Hammel's store, which had been rebranded by New Orleans-based D.H. Holmes in 1973. This location now encompassed 208,900 square feet, with the entire facility housing approximately 1,028,250 leasable square feet. BEL AIR MALL was now Alabama's largest shopping center, a distinction held until the completion of Birmingham's RIVERCHASE GALLERIA, in February 1986.
Birmingham-based Parisian built a 1-level (90,000 square foot) store at BEL AIR MALL, which was completed in February 1984. This was part of a 127,000 square foot South Wing expansion, which included a new Food Court. Some of its vendors were Sbarro the Italian Eatery, The Cracked Crab, Satay Club Oriental Food and the Peanut Shack.
A minor competitor came on the scene soon after. MOBILE FESTIVAL CENTRE {.6 mile west, in Mobile} was one of -if not- the first power centers in the Southeast. It was dedicated in the autumn of 1986. In 1989, the Hammel's / Holmes store was rebranded by Little Rock-based Dillard's. The following year, the mall was given a major face lift, with new signage, exterior landscaping, exterior facades and entrances installed.
A third expansion was undertaken in 1995. As a part of this 40 million dollar project, the Food Court was demolished, along with six inline store spaces. These were replaced by a 1-level (116,000 square foot) Target, which held its grand opening on July 28, 1996. Parisian expanded into adjacent mall area, taking out twenty inline tenants. This store now encompassed 126,000 square feet. Sears received a second level and new exterior, with the store now comprising 232,800 square feet. The Dillard's building was also renovated. The massive mall refurbishment was completed in November 1997.
Birmingham-based Colonial Properties Trust entered into a joint venture with New York City-based Prudential Real Estate Investors and acquired BEL AIR MALL in December 1998. The complex was renamed COLONIAL MALL BEL AIR in the summer of the year 2000. In November 2005, a 90 percent share in COLONIAL MALL BEL AIR was sold to a joint venture of Australia's GPT Group and Babcock & Brown.
The complex received minor damage from Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. It re-opened in just 3 days. Within 10 days, the mall was enjoying a massive surge of business, as there were no other large shopping centers open along the devastated coastline.
In 2007, the official name of COLONIAL BEL AIR MALL reverted back to BEL AIR MALL. Parisian was rebranded by Charlotte-based Belk on September 12 of the same year. In November 2008, Los Angeles-based Forever 21 dedicated a (26,200 square foot) XXI Forever store in a portion of the Woolworth space, which had been vacated in July 1997.
In May 2014, BEL AIR MALL became a holding of New York City-based Rouse Properties. The shopping facility now spanned 1,345,000 leasable square feet and contained over 130 stores and services. Sears closed for good in September 2015. Belk renovated the building and relocated from their existing BEL AIR MALL store. The new Belk was dedicated on October 12, 2016.
An "interior cosmetic revamp" was performed between January and November 2016. At the same time, an exterior-entranced Streetscape and new Main Entrance were installed along the north-facing front of the complex. As part of these renovations, the mall's name was changed to THE SHOPPES AT BEL AIR. Rouse Properties, and its portfolio of thirty-five shopping malls, was sold in July 2016. The buyer was Toronto's Brookfield Asset Management.
The first two Streetscape tenants opened in the following year. P.F. Chang's China Bistro was dedicated om February 13, 2017, with Grimaldi's Coal-Brick Oven Pizzeria welcoming first diners on February 20th. Unfortunately, Grimaldi's, P.F. Chang's and Texas de Brazil had all been shuttered by November 2020.
At this time, the mall changed hands. Great Neck, New York's Kohan Retail Investment Group became its new proprietor. J.C. Penney shuttered their 50-year-old BEL AIR store in September 2024.
Sources:
The Mobile Press-Register
Business Wire, November 29, 2005
http://www.nreionline.com / National Real Estate Investor
www.semoonchang.com
http://www.colonialproperties.com
http://www.joneslanglasalle.com
www.bizjournals.com
Joey M., Mobile resident
https://www.theshoppesatbelair.com
https://www.mallscenters.com
Comment by "DewN Nitek"
"The Shoppes At Bel Air" article on Wikipedia
FAIR USE OF BEL AIR MALL PHOTOGRAPHS:
The photographs from the Mobile Press-Register 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.
