Alderwood Mall Parkway and 184th Street Southwest
Snohomish County (Lynnwood), Washington
One of the final shopping centers designed by master mall architect John Graham, Junior was also one of two built on America's "left coast" by Youngstown, Ohio's Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation. This mall's story began in 1966, when New York City-based Allied Stores acquired a 77-acre site located 15.5 miles northeast of center city Seattle.
At the time, the land parcel was in an unincorporated section of Snohomish ["snah-hoe-mish"] County known as Alderwood Manor. Plans for a fully-enclosed mall were announced. However, implementation of the shopping hub was postponed by a sluggish local and national economy. Eventually, Allied sold the plot to DeBartolo, who initiated construction in 1977.
Located directly west of the junction of Interstates 5 and 405, ALDERWOOD MALL was officially dedicated on October 4, 1979. Seventy stores opened for business. The grand opening was attended by Edward J. DeBartolo and M.J. Hrdlicka (Mayor of City of Lynnwood). The complex consisted of a single level of retail and approximately 965,000 leasable square feet.
Original anchors were a 2-level (221,000 square foot), Seattle-based The Bon Marche, 2-level (178,000 square foot) Sears, 2-level (101,000 square foot), Seattle-based Nordstrom and 1-level (60,000 square foot), Bellevue-based Lamonts.
A 2-level (159,000 square foot) J.C. Penney opened its doors March 12, 1980. By June, the full compliment of 136 tenants were in business. These included Musicland, GNC, The Gap, Weisfield's Jewelers, Lane Bryant, Motherhood Maternity, Orange Julius, Spencer Gifts, The Limited and Waldenbooks. There was also an 18-bay Food Court in the mall's northwest corner
The bulk of the Alderwood Manor community, including ALDERWOOD MALL, was annexed into the City of Lynnwood in 1984. A cinematic venue, the first in -or around- the shopping complex, was built on a pad located .2 mile northwest. The Luxury Theatres Alderwood 7 opened for business in 1986.
Major retail centers in the northern environs of Seattle included NORTHGATE MALL (1950) {8.6 miles southwest, in Seattle}, EVERETT MALL (1974) {5.9 miles northeast, in Everett}, BELLEVUE SQUARE (1946) {15.7 miles southeast, in Bellevue} and REDMOND TOWN CENTER (1997) {13.4 miles southeast, in Redmond}.
By the mid-1990s, ALDERWOOD MALL was due for an update. A 68,000 square foot Southwest Wing was built, which housed nineteen stores including a 10-bay Food Court. The 11 million dollar expansion, which had commenced in January 1995, was completed in November. ALDERWOOD MALL now encompassed approximately 1,051,000 leasable square feet.
Chicago-based General Growth Properties, who had been managing the ALDERWOOD property since 1997, established full ownership in May 1999. Financially-strapped Lamonts sold their ALDERWOOD store in February 1996 and ended up shuttering it in July 2000. The vacant store was razed in the autumn of 2001.
In May 2002, a second mall renovation got underway. The existing structure was given an indoor-outdoor makeover, assuming a "contemporary northwest" look. New flooring, seating, skylights and fireplaces were installed. Mall entrances were also refurbished, with a new Southeast Entry created.
A 2-level (151,000 square foot) Nordstrom and attached parking garage were built, replacing the old Lamonts. The new Nordstrom was dedicated September 19, 2003. The old Nordstrom was demolished and replaced by a single-level (187,000 square foot) lifestyle addition known as THE VILLAGE. This new wing housed tony tenants, such as Pottery Barn, Borders Books, Williams-Sonoma, REI, Coldwater Creek and Gene Juarez Salon & Spa.
A second open-air addition, known as THE TERRACES, was built in front of the Southwest Wing. It encompassed 24,000 leasable square feet and included Claim Jumper and McGrath's Fish House casual dining restaurants. A second parking structure was also constructed.
The new mall space was officially dedicated November 4, 2004. The complex, now officially known as ALDERWOOD, enveloped around 1,270,000 leasable square feet and contained over 200 stores and services.
Major retail centers in the northern environs of Seattle included NORTHGATE MALL (1950) {8.6 miles southwest, in Seattle}, EVERETT MALL (1974) {5.9 miles northeast, in Everett}, BELLEVUE SQUARE (1946) {15.7 miles southeast, in Bellevue} and REDMOND TOWN CENTER (1997) {13.4 miles southeast, in Redmond}.
By the mid-1990s, ALDERWOOD MALL was due for an update. A 68,000 square foot Southwest Wing was built, which housed nineteen stores including a 10-bay Food Court. The 11 million dollar expansion, which had commenced in January 1995, was completed in November. ALDERWOOD MALL now encompassed approximately 1,051,000 leasable square feet.
Chicago-based General Growth Properties, who had been managing the ALDERWOOD property since 1997, established full ownership in May 1999. Financially-strapped Lamonts sold their ALDERWOOD store in February 1996 and ended up shuttering it in July 2000. The vacant store was razed in the autumn of 2001.
In May 2002, a second mall renovation got underway. The existing structure was given an indoor-outdoor makeover, assuming a "contemporary northwest" look. New flooring, seating, skylights and fireplaces were installed. Mall entrances were also refurbished, with a new Southeast Entry created.
A 2-level (151,000 square foot) Nordstrom and attached parking garage were built, replacing the old Lamonts. The new Nordstrom was dedicated September 19, 2003. The old Nordstrom was demolished and replaced by a single-level (187,000 square foot) lifestyle addition known as THE VILLAGE. This new wing housed tony tenants, such as Pottery Barn, Borders Books, Williams-Sonoma, REI, Coldwater Creek and Gene Juarez Salon & Spa.
A second open-air addition, known as THE TERRACES, was built in front of the Southwest Wing. It encompassed 24,000 leasable square feet and included Claim Jumper and McGrath's Fish House casual dining restaurants. A second parking structure was also constructed.
The new mall space was officially dedicated November 4, 2004. The complex, now officially known as ALDERWOOD, enveloped around 1,270,000 leasable square feet and contained over 200 stores and services.
A freestanding movie house, the Loews Cineplex Alderwood Mall 16, was added to THE TERRACES and showed its first features on April 1, 2005. The theater was rebranded as an American Multi-Cinema venue in early 2006. Meanwhile, The Bon Marche had been rebranded as a Bon-Macy's on August 1, 2003 and became a full-fledged Macy's on March 6, 2005.
Sears, a charter mall tenant, was shuttered on March 26, 2017, as one of forty-two decommissioned Sears locations across the nation. The vacant store prompted a fourth renovation of the shopping facility. The vacant Sears was demolished in August 2019 and was going to be replaced by a so-called Entertainment Food Village.
Sears, a charter mall tenant, was shuttered on March 26, 2017, as one of forty-two decommissioned Sears locations across the nation. The vacant store prompted a fourth renovation of the shopping facility. The vacant Sears was demolished in August 2019 and was going to be replaced by a so-called Entertainment Food Village.
This open-air lifestyle wing would have consisted of five structures and be anchored by a 2-level (85,000 square foot) Dick's Sporting Goods and 1-level (40,000 square foot) Dave & Buster's Grand Sports Cafe.
Brookfield Property Partners, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, acquired a share of General Growth Properties in 2016. In August 2018, Brookfield established 100 percent ownership of the corporation. Hence, the ALDERWOOD mall became part of the Brookfield retail center portfolio.
Brookfield Property Partners, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, acquired a share of General Growth Properties in 2016. In August 2018, Brookfield established 100 percent ownership of the corporation. Hence, the ALDERWOOD mall became part of the Brookfield retail center portfolio.
Brookfield rethought the ongoing refurbishment. They formed a joint venture with Seritage Growth Properties and Avalon Bay Communities, Incorporated. The new outdoor wing, officially known as Avalon Alderwood Place, would include the previously established retail and restaurant sector, but would include two 5-level apartment buildings; these built over a retail-restaurant ground floor. This would cover an underground, residential parking garage.
When fully-realized in 2022, the new section added six stores and services to the store directory, plus 77,000 square feet of retail, and 350 moderately-priced (at least for the Seatlle area) one, two and three bedroom apartments.
Sources:
The Seattle Times
The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Washington)
http://www.historylink.com
http://www.allbusiness.com
https://www.heraldnet.com
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com
Snohomish County, Washington property tax assessor website
https://mynorthwest.com
http://www.historylink.com
http://www.allbusiness.com
https://www.heraldnet.com
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com
Snohomish County, Washington property tax assessor website
https://mynorthwest.com
https://www.brookfieldproperties.com
http://mallmanac.blogspot.com
https://www.alderwoodmall.com
"Alderwood Mall" article on Wikipedia
FAIR USE OF ALDERWOOD MALL IMAGE:
The rendering from the University of Washington Special Collection illustrates a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The image is of lower resolution than the original (copies made would be of inferior quality). The image is not replaceable with free-use or public-domain images. The use of the image does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute the image in any way. The image is being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and its use is not believed to detract from the original image in any way.
