West Markham Street and North Hayes Street (North University Avenue)
Little Rock, Arkansas
The Natural State's first shopping mall was developed by Little Rock's Elbert Fausett and designed by Cincinnati's Richard Savage. The complex was built on 22.2 acres, on a parcel located 2.9 miles northwest of the Arkansas State House. The mall site was in a section of Little Rock known, at the time, as West Little Rock. Today, it is known as Midtown.
Open-air in format, PARK PLAZA CENTER was comprised of 2 retail levels. A mall-wide grand opening was held on December 1, 1960. Charter stores included Joe's Hobby Shop, Crank's Save On Drugs, Somers Shoes, Gold's House of Fashions, Park Plaza Photo, an Oklahoma Tire & Auto Supply (Otasco) and Sterling 5 & 10.
In September 1963, a group of investors headed by William T. Dillard acquired stores in the Little Rock-based Pfiefer Brothers chain. The Gus Blass Company, also based in Little Rock, was acquired in February 1964. At this time, a 2-level (63,500 square foot) Gus Blass store was being added to PARK PLAZA CENTER. This store opened its doors on March 18, 1965. The mall now housed approximately 292,600 leasable square feet.
On July 7, 1968, the Blass and Pfiefer chains were merged into a single entity, known as Pfiefer-Blass. In 1974, Pfiefer-Blass stores received Dillard's nameplates. The PARK PLAZA anchor was expanded (into a 198,000 square foot operation) soon after.
A fully-enclosed complex, originally known as THE MALL, opened across the street from PARK PLAZA in 1967. This center was renamed UNIVERSITY MALL in 1975. SOUTHWEST CITY MALL {5.1 miles south, in Little Rock} was a 180,000 square foot community-class venue, completed in 1969. A third regional-class shopping hub, McCAIN MALL {6.9 miles northeast, in North Little Rock}, was dedicated in 1973.
By the mid-1980s, the open-air PARK PLAZA CENTER had been outclassed by its fully-enclosed neighbor and was in foreclosure. It was purchased by the Houston-based Herring Marathon Group. They announced a major renovation in January 1987. The mall structure was razed in July, leaving only Dillard's standing. Construction of a 3-level, galleria-style shopping venue was underway by September.
In addition to the existing Dillard's, the 540,300 square foot facility would be anchored by a second, 2-level (86,300 square foot) Dillard's. The original store was refashioned into Dillard's West (a Women's & Home Store), with the new anchor structure, Dillard's East, housing a Men's & Children's Store.
The 7-bay Market Food Court was situated on a first floor, or Garden Level, along with the United Artists The Movies (a 7-screen multiplex) and an underground parking deck. Covering the Garden Level were a First Level (the mall's second floor) and Second Level (or third floor).
Stores on the First Level and Second Level included American Eagle Outfitters, Claire's Boutique, Express, The Gap, The Limited, J. Riggings, Brentano's Books, Luby's Cafeteria, Bombay Company, Oshmans Sporting Goods and Shreveport-based Beall-Ladymon.
The rebuilding project had cost 55 million dollars. Forty stores (out of an eventual sixty-two) were dedicated with a gala grand opening held on July 27, 1988. The festivities included a fashion show, presented by Dillard's, and music from the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.
Little Rock's sibling centers at West Markham Street and University Avenue coexisted for several years. However, the glitzy PARK PLAZA soon gained a foothold, leaving UNIVERSITY MALL in decline. That shopping center was demolished in December 2007. It was replaced by PARK AVENUE, an open-air power center. Its first phase, a 1-level (137,000 square foot) Target, opened for business in October 2010.
PARK PLAZA and UNIVERSITY MALL had been joined by an adjacent shopping center, MIDTOWNE LITTLE ROCK, in October 2006. It was built directly east of the PARK PLAZA property, on the northeast corner of the West Markham / University Avenue intersection.
Elsewhere in the metro area, new retail centers were springing up. PLEASANT RIDGE TOWN CENTER {4.2 miles northwest, in Little Rock} was dedicated in November 2006. A site 4.6 miles southwest, in Little Rock, had been plotted for a SUMMIT MALL project in 1987.
The land was eventually developed as the SHACKLEFORD CROSSING lifestyle center, which opened in October 2007. The third lifestyle venue in the region, PROMENADE AT CHENAL {6.5 miles west, in Little Rock}, was dedicated in 2011.
Chattanooga's CBL & Associates Properties acquired PARK PLAZA in June 2004. They embarked on an interior and exterior refurbishment in February 2006. Referred to as the "grand scale" renovation, it was completed in November 2006, when a (25,000 square foot) Forever 21 opened for business. By this time, the original floor orientation of the complex had been simplified. The old Garden Level was now the First Level. Above this were the Second Level and Third Level.
CBL Properties filed for bankruptcy in November 2020 and defaulted on their PARK PLAZA loan in 2021. The lender, Deutsche Bank, was granted ownership of the property. The Woodmount Company, a Deutche Bank subsidiary, was enlisted to manage the property. Boca Raton-based Second Horizon Capital bought the PARK PLAZA mall in March 2023, with Jones, Lang, LaSalle hired as property manager.
Sources:
www.parkplazamall.com
http://www.cblproperties.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
Pulaski County, Arkansas tax assessor website
www.parkavenuelr.com
www.arkansasbusiness.com
https://www.nwaonline.com
www.schickels.com
https://www.arkansasonline.com
"Park Plaza Mall" and "Dillard's" articles on Wikipedia
