Northwest 27th Avenue and Northwest 79th Street
Dade County, Florida
Miami-Dade's second mall-type shopping complex was developed by a joint venture of Sears, Arthur Vining Davis and Miami's Allen Morris Company. Ground was broken, in January 1959, at a 45-acre parcel located 5.4 miles northwest of Miami's Central Business District. The site was in an unincorporated section of Dade County.
Open-air in format, NORTHSIDE CENTER was designed by Miami's Weed Johnson Associates. The original 15 million dollar facility enveloped approximately 491,200 leasable square feet and housed fifty stores and services on a single retail level. There were also Upper Level sections which housed leased office spaces.
The official grand opening, held on March 16, 1960, was attended by Mr. Davis, who arrived via helicopter. Other officials attending the event included L.E. Oliver (vice-president of Sears, Roebuck & Company), Joe Boyd (Dade County Commissioner) and Allen Morris (president of Northside Shopping Center, Incorporated). A ceremonial ribbon was cut.
Stores and services dedicated on March 16 included Thom McAn Shoes, The Hub lingerie, Hartley's apparel, Size 5-7-9 Shops, Modernage furniture, Modernage Carpets and a (23,400 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10. This store featured an "Ultra-Modern Luncheonette," with seating for sixty-six. A (28,000 square foot) S.S. Kresge's included a Dinette, with seating for forty-eight. An (11,000 square foot) Walgreen Drug had its own Food & Fountain Luncheonette.
Other charter NORTHSIDE CENTER tenants included Lerner Shops, Three Sisters ladies' wear, Royal Palm Clothes, a Grand Union supermarket and St. Mary's Chapel; reputedly the first official church in an American shopping center. A 2-level (183,900 square foot) Sears, anchoring the shopping hub, was dedicated on April 20, 1960. The second-largest Sears in Florida, it included a freestanding Service Station & Auto Center and detached Garden, Farm & Pet Shop.
NORTHSIDE CENTER was decorated with lush tropical plantings and several terrazzo animal statues. Created by Miami's Earl La Pan, they included a giant frog, turtle and alligator. The centerpiece of the mall's North Court was its "30 Fish on a Fountain" water feature. The most distinctive aspect of the shopping hub was its rooftop freight roadway, which serviced the various stores below.
Shopping centers in the vicinity of NORTHSIDE CENTER included 163rd STREET CENTER (1956) {6.9 miles northeast, in Dade County}, MIDWAY MALL (1970) {7 miles southwest, in Dade County}, 79th STREET STAR MALL (1970) {directly west of NORTHSIDE CENTER} and WESTLAND MALL (1971) {4.8 miles northwest, in Hialeah}.
A cinematic venue was built on a pad north of NORTHSIDE CENTER. Originally known as the William Goldman Northside Theatre, it showed its first feature January 31, 1968. The venue re-opened, as the Northside Twin 1 & 2, on September 8, 1970. The only physical expansion ever done to NORTHSIDE CENTER was the addition of a 1-level (49,700 square foot), Miami-based Jackson's-Byrons (later known as "J. Byron"). This store opened in October 1969. With its completion, the mall housed approximately 540,900 leasable square feet.
NORTHSIDE CENTER started to decline in the early 1970s; a situation exacerbated by the too close for comfort proximity of Hialeah's WESTLAND MALL. By 1976, NORTHSIDE CENTER, which started out as a regional-class complex, had evolved into a community-class venue. Its tenant list was now composed primarily of mom & pop-type retailers.
A 500,000 dollar renovation was done, which consisted of new store facades, paint, signage and a resurfaced parking lot. The shuttering of Sears, in July 1982, created a major vacancy that was difficult to fill. Rumors of a new Zayre came and went. An S.O.S. Clearance Center opened in July 1986, but didn't last for long. Eventually the Sears space was leased as the Freedom Marketplace Flea Market. Walgreen Drug, a 1960 charter tenant, relocated into a (17,300 square foot) freestanding store in 1995.
In October 2002, New York City-based Urban America acquired the mall. They performed a 5 million dollar rehab between late 2006 and mid-2007. New stucco, brick and tile facades were installed, surfaces were painted and the roof was replaced. In October 2010, the shopping center was sold to North Miami's IMC Property Management, Incorporated, who changed the spelling of the mall moniker to NORTHSIDE CENTRE. In August 2015, this entity changed its name to the IMC Equity Group.
Sources:
The Miami News
The Miami Herald
www.urbanamerica.com
http://presidentesupermarkets.com
http://imcequitygroup.com / IMC Equity Group
