El Paso's Northgate Center

El Paso's first mall-type shopping complex was built in the city's northeast environs. This sign stood at the Dyer Street entrance and included an electronic display that announced the temperature.
Drawing from DeWitt & Rearick 

 

Stores at NORTHGATE CENTER opened in several stages. The first three debuted in April 1960. Additional store dedications were held between September 1960 and April 1962. By 1963, the open-air complex encompassed approximately 300,000 leasable square feet and housed thirty-two tenants.

NORTHGATE CENTER TENANTS 1963:

J.C. PENNEY / SAFEWAY supermarket / S.S. KRESGE 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / Aaronson Brothers apparel / American Furniture Company / Cherry's Barber Shop / El Paso County Tax Office / Gilbert's Fashion Apparel / Gunning-Casteel Rexall Drug (with luncheonette) / Household Finance Corporation / Land Yacht Trailer Sales / Little Hawaii Beauty Salon / Leeds Qualicraft Shoes / Northgate Chevron (outparcel) / Northgate Community Hall / Northgate Florist / Northgate National Bank (outparcel) / Perry's Laundry & Cleaners / Shain's Quality Jewelers / Sherwin-Williams Paints / Singer Sewing Center / Stein's men's & boy's wear / Johnson's Northgate Sinclair service station & car wash (outparcel) / Texas State Optical / The El Paso Herald-Post / The El Paso Times / The Toy Box / Thom McAn Shoes / Tiny Tot Shop / Tony Lama Western Wear / Wash Pot Coin Laundry / White Stores (with attached Auto Center) / Wyatt's Cafeteria 

The Sun City's Popular Dry Goods ("Popular") chain added an anchor department store to NORTHGATE in the mid-1960s. The store encompassed 1 level and 52,500 square feet.
Drawing from the Popular Dry Goods Company 

In 1967, NORTHGATE CENTER features the new Popular store, Lerner Shops, and the single-screen Northgate Theatre. The mall covered around 390,000 leasable square feet and contained thirty-eight tenants. Free parking was provided for 3,200 autos. Although the mall is now considered complete, a small area adjacent to Lerner Shops was still vacant. It would not be filled in until 1981.

In circa-1968 aerial, Wyatt's Cafeteria occupies space along the mall's north-facing front. A Safeway supermarket extends from the west end of the open shopping concourse.
Photo from Malls of America Blogspot

In 1972, forty-nine tenants are in operation. Several stores have changed since 1967, but no new retail space has been added. A vacant Kresge dime store was assumed by TG&Y in September 1970. The departure of Wyatt's Cafeteria created space for Scot's Smorgasbord, which opened in May 1969. By 1972, this space is leased by Cloth World.

NORTHGATE CENTER TENANTS 1972:

POPULAR (with Beauty Salon) / J.C. PENNEY / SAFEWAY supermarket / T G & Y FAMILY CENTER (with snack bar) / Allied Finance Corporation / American Furniture Company / American Handicraft / Baker Glass / Burgess Branch Library (outparcel) / C.J.C. Enterprises / Charles Craven, Attorney at Law / Chez Patrice Beauty Salon / Cloth World / Cook Sporting Goods / Cox's Bakery / Discount Photo Express / El Paso County Tax Office / First Savings & Loan / Frank's Lock & Key / Gilbert's Fashion Apparel / Gunning-Casteel Rexall Drug (with luncheonette) / H & R Block / Household Finance Corporation / Humble Oil Company / Jif-E-Mart / Key Realty / Leeds Shoes / Lerner Shops / Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio / Newspaper Printing Corporation / Northgate Chevron service station (outparcel) / Northgate Community Hall / Northgate Florist / Northgate T-Bird service station & car wash (outparcel) / Northgate Theatre (single-screen outparcel) / Paul's Barber Shop / Perry's Laundry & Cleaners / Public Utilities Payment Office / Radio Shack / Rayburn's men's wear / Shain's Quality Jewelers / Sherwin-Williams Paints / Sweetbriar Shop / Texaco, Incorporated / Texas State Optical / The Card Nook / The El Paso Herald-Post / The El Paso Times / Thom McAn Shoes / Toy Kingdom / United States Army Recruiting Station / White Stores (with attached Auto Center) / Wigg's Appliance   

NORTHGATE was in decline by the late 1970s. A minor face lift was completed in November 1981. Vacant space was filled (dark gray), completing the mall's basic footprint. In October 1987, a more comprehensive refurbishment commenced. A new Popular store (medium gray) was built, with Furr's Food Emporium setting up shop in the original. The new & improved NORTHPARK MALL was officially dedicated in November 1988.

The late 1980s renovation brought the shopping hub up-to-date. However, it soon entered a second downward spiral. By the late 20th century, NORTHPARK was virtually vacant and rapidly deteriorating. Furr's Food Emporium, seen above, was shuttered in August 2001. The building would never be retenanted.
Photo from www.loopnet.com  

Our final NORTHGATE-NORTHPARK plan is a composite, covering the years between 1989 and 2010. J.C. Penney's abandoned space housed a natural history museum for a time. The Kresge dime store had stints as a T G & Y Family Center, Bealls ["Belz"] and Newberrys. The space was expanded and converted into a Boomerangs Family Fun Center and NorthPark Cinema 4, which opened in June 1992.

The moribund mall was knocked down in late 2011. A section of the site was utilized for the Northgate Transfer Center depicted above. The 11 million dollar bus transit facility opened in May 2018.
Drawing from www.sunmetro.net (City of El Paso Sun Metro)

The Transfer Center is the northern terminus on the Dyer Corridor, one of four routes on the Sun Metro BRIO. This bus rapid transit system uses rubber-tired rolling stock, which operate over surface streets. With completion of the initial network in 2020, the BRIO stretched for 50.1 route miles and serviced ninety-eight station stops.
Photo from www.sunmetro.net (City of El Paso Sun Metro) 

NORTHGATE CENTER

Dyer Street / US 54 and Wren Avenue

El Paso, Texas

The Sun City's first shopping mall was built on a 23-acre parcel, located 8.6 miles northeast of the El Paso Central Business District. The single-level complex -open-air in format- was developed by DeWitt & Rearick Realty, under the auspices of Northgate of El Paso, Incorporated. It was designed by Nesmith & Lane Associates of El Paso.

 

In late 1959, the broadcast towers and studio of radio station KROD were relocated from the mall site, as construction commenced on NORTHGATE CENTER. The first three tenants, Gunning-Casteel Rexall, Aaronson Brothers apparel and an (18,500 square foot) Safeway supermarket, opened for business on April 14, 1960.

These were joined by a 1-level (30,000 square foot) J.C. Penney on August 3, 1960 and (21,800 square foot) S.S. Kresge on September 19th. By November, White Stores had opened a NORTHGATE location. Not to be confused with El Paso's White House department stores, the White Stores chain was based in Wichita Falls, Texas. Stores carried a line of home and auto merchandise and were similar to a Western Auto.

Additional stores and services opened at NORTHGATE CENTER over the following 2 years. By April 1963, the 3 million dollar shopping hub had thirty-two stores and encompassed approximately 300,000 leasable square feet. Charter tenants included Leeds Qualicraft Shoes, The Toy Box, Thom McAn Shoes, Singer Sewing Center, Wyatt's Cafeteria, Little Hawaii Beauty Salon, Sherwin-Williams Paints and a 150-seat Community Hall.

The mall's first cinematic venue, the Interstate Theatres Northgate Theatre, was built as a southwestern outparcel. Originally a single-screen house, it dedicated on June 24, 1966. El Paso's Popular Dry Goods added a 1-level (52,500 square foot) anchor store to the east end of the complex. This store -the chain's second branch- held its grand opening on August 1, 1966. NORTHGATE CENTER now encompassed around 390,000 leasable square feet.

For 12 years, the Sun City and its environs were served by just two shopping malls; NORTHGATE and BASSETT CENTER (1962) {6.4 miles south, in El Paso}. CIELO VISTA MALL {7.3 miles southeast, in El Paso} opened, as the region's first fully-enclosed shopping venue, in November 1974. As a reaction, BASSETT CENTER was already being roofed-in. However, the owners of NORTHGATE CENTER, Tulsa's Frates Properties, did not enclose their mall. It began to decline. 

A face lift was completed in November 1981, with mall roofs repaired, canopies rebuilt and parking areas repaved. Eleven new stores joined the directory. Bealls apparel set up shop, in a vacant S.S. Kresge, on September 8, 1981. Safeway had also been shuttered. Its building was divided into four spaces, with one being leased as a (10,200 square foot) Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater. It opened for business on November 23, 1981.

El Paso's Recon Real Estate purchased the mall in April 1986. A 15 million dollar renovation was announced, with plans for the open shopping concourse to be enclosed and climate-controlled. This was never done. An exterior face lift did add Spanish Adobe design elements and twenty-one new stores.

Popular Dry Goods built a 1-level (51,800 square foot) anchor on the west end of the complex, with the original Popular reconfigured as a Furrs Food Emporium. The revitalized, open-air shopping hub was re-dedicated on November 17, 1988. As part of its renewal, the complex was renamed NORTHPARK MALL.

The renovation was probably a reaction to the completion of a major retail rival. SUNLAND PARK MALL {8.3 miles southwest, in El Paso} opened in August 1988. NORTHPARK was soon in a second downward spiral. Eventually, its nationally-known stores closed and were replaced by mom & pop-type tenants...or vacant space. A succession of owners deferred maintenance.

By the turn of the 20th century, the original cinema, which had been divided into a 2-screen venue in June 1978, was vacant. J.C. Penney's space was leased briefly as a natural history museum. The Popular store was shuttered on November 6, 1995. Food Emporium closed on August 7, 2001.

Furniture Factory Warehouse opened, in the vacant Popular space, in March 2005. In April 2007, Torreon, Mexico's T Group assumed management of the center. By 2010 Furniture Factory Warehouse, an Allstate Insurance agency and Crystal Ballroom dance hall were the only operational tenants. Two outparcels, Walgreen Drug and KFC, had been built in the northwest parking area in 2003.

A dilapidated and virtually vacant shopping center was sold to the City of El Paso in September 2010. Demolition commenced in September 2011 and continued until February 2012. Only Walgreen's and KFC were left standing.

In the fall of 2013, a redevelopment was proposed. A regional farmers market, 130,000 square feet of inline retail, and several hundred residential units would be built as part of the Metro 31 mixed-use project. The Northgate Transfer Center, a northern terminus on the city's Sun Metro BRIO bus rapid transit network, would occupy 6 acres of the site. This facility was dedicated on May 30, 2018.

Meanwhile, revenue service on the 8.6-route-mile Mesa Corridor was inaugurated. This was the first operational segment of the Sun Metro Brio system. The 10.2-route-mile Dyer Corridor, extending between downtown El Paso and the Northgate Transfer Center, was launched on September 23, 2019.

Sources:

The El Paso Times

The El Paso Post-Herald / Aaron Bracomontes

"Dual Anchor Shopping Centers 1952-1965" / Richard Longstreth

Malls of America Blogspot / Keith Milford webmaster

http://www.constructionreporter.com

https://www.cinematreasures.org

https://movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest

https://www.sunmetro.net

https://www.ktsm.com

El Paso's Bassett Center

A late '60s postcard shows El Paso's second shopping mall. In this view, we see The White House -a local department store- in the foreground. It anchored the west end of the original open-air complex.

Photo from Petley Studios, Incorporated

The Sun City's Popular chain anchored the east end of the mall. The store included an open terrace -on its upper level- where lawn supplies and other outdoor merchandise was displayed.
Drawing from the Popular Dry Goods Company  

The Kinney Shoes chain was operating over 570 stores when the BASSETT CENTER location opened its doors, in March 1962.
Drawing from the G.R. Kinney Company

In late 1962, BASSETT CENTER encompasses around 444,400 leasable square feet and houses forty-four stores under its open-air canopies. Free parking is provided for 4,500 autos. One may notice that the thoroughfare running along the south side of the site is known as simply "The Freeway." It would soon be incorporated into Interstate 10.

BASSETT CENTER TENANTS 1962:

POPULAR (with Beauty Salon and Public Auditorium) / THE WHITE HOUSE (with Budget Shop) / SAFEWAY supermarket (outparcel) / S.S. KRESGE 5 & 10 (with Dinette) / Aaronson Brothers family apparel / Acme Laundry & Cleaners (outparcel) / Baker's Qualicraft Shoes / Bassett Beauty Salon / Bassett Center Book Store / Bassett Center Community Hall / Bassett Flower Shop / Bassett Key Booth / Beau's Pets / Buck Rogers Travel Service / Cherry's Barber Shop / Christo Rey Gifts / Christopher's / Contour Chair Lounge / Feder's Jewelers / First Savings & Loan / Finance Trust Company / Franklin Optical / Fred Astair Dance Studio / Given Brothers / Glass Incorporated ladies' wear / Hardy Shoes / Howard Clothes / Kinney Shoes / Lerner Shops / Lynn's Apparel / Melody Shop records / Misenheimer Ice Cream & Candy Shoppe / Molly's / National Shirt Shops / Park-A-Tot Nursery (outparcel) / Patrician Restaurant / Singer Sewing Center / Steiling's Linens / Stover's Hearing Aids / The Dauphin House Gifts / Thomas Paint Company / Tony Lama Western Wear / Toys By Roy / Union Fashion / Walgreen Drug (with The Grill) / Western Auto (outparcel) / Wyatt's Cafeteria  

In January 1974, construction work began on a 1.3 million dollar roofing renovation. In the following December, BASSETT CENTER emerged as a fully-enclosed and air-conditioned shopping venue.
Graphic from Charles Bassett Center, Limited

Zooming ahead 16 years, we come to the BASSETT CENTER of 1990. The Popular store was enlarged in 1973. Mervyn's was added to the front of the complex in 1981. In 1983, the Cafe Plaza Food Court (light gray) was installed. The White House store was downsized into its southern half in 1984. Lastly, a SuperSafeway grocery, east of the mall, has just been rebranded as a (Furrs) Food Emporium.

The Sun City shopping hub was renamed BASSETT PLACE in November 2004.
Photo from http://visitelpasomissiontrail.com / El Paso Mission Trail Association

In a circa-2009 layout, we see several changes. The White House has been surgically extracted from the mall and a new Target Greatland built. The Popular store has also been knocked down and replaced by Costco. Renovations done to the mall proper between 2004 and 2007 are shown in medium gray.

A view inside BASSETT PLACE, which is now the oldest -and third-largest- mall in Greater El Paso.
Photo from http://www.cypressequities.com / Cypress Equities

The Premier Cinemas 18 showed its first features in April 2007. It is the third movie house to operate at the mall.
Photo from http://www.cypressequities.com / Cypress Equities

A portion of the Premier theater was rebuilt as an IMAX auditorium. It opened for business in November 2013.
Photo from http://www.pccmovies.com / Premier Cinemas

 

Our most recent BASSETT layout dates to 2025. A deserted Mervyn's became a Kohl's. Twelve vacant store spaces on the south end of the mall were gutted and reconfigured as a Conn's HomePlus (2012-2024). After this store closed down, Burlington opened in the space. 

 

BASSETT CENTER
Gateway Boulevard and Magruder Avenue
El Paso, Texas

In 1954, a 53-acre sand and gravel pit located 4 miles northeast of El Paso's Central Business District was designated as a prime location for a suburban shopping center. By November 1955, planning was underway.

The prospective retail complex was named BASSETT CENTER as a homage to Charles Nebeker Bassett (1880-1944) a prominent El Paso civic leader. The mall-to-be would be developed by a joint venture of the Charles N. Bassett Corporation, El Paso's Home Mortgage Company and Milwaukee's Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. Ground was broken on February 18, 1961.

BASSETT CENTER was designed by San Antonio's Bartlett Cockle & Associates, El Paso's Nesmith & Lane Associates and the Burke, Kober & Nicholais firm, of Los Angeles. The single-level complex would feature a 705-foot, open-air shopping concourse and encompass approximately 444,400 leasable square feet.

Eighteen stores opened for business on March 1, 1962. Officiating at the dedication was Ralph Seitsinger (Mayor of El Paso). In attendance were H.M. Daugherty (president and director of the Basset Corporation) and George G. Matkin (vice-president and treasurer of the Basset Corporation). A ceremonial ribbon was cut.

The original anchors were a 2-level (90,000 square foot), El Paso-based Popular Dry Goods and 1-level (101,300 square foot), El Paso-based The White House. Additional stores and services were dedicated throughout 1962. By year's end, BASSETT CENTER housed forty-four. Charter tenants included Melody Shop records, Dauphin House Gifts, Feder's Jewelers, Stehling's Linens and Buck Rogers Travel Service.

Major stores were a (28,000 square foot) S.S. Kresge 5 & 10, (17,000 square foot) Walgreen Drug, (10,100 square foot) Wyatt's Cafeteria and (21,300 square foot) Safeway supermarket. This store was located in a southeast parking area Convenience Center.

The National General Corporation Fox Theatre at Bassett Center showed a first feature on December 23, 1965. This freestanding cinema, which was adjacent to the Safeway Convenience Center, was twinned in 1976, quaded in the late 1970s and shuttered in 1980.

NORTHGATE CENTER {6.4 miles north, in El Paso} was the region's first mall-type shopping hub. This complex opened for business in April 1960. CIELO VISTA MALL {1.6 miles southeast, in El Paso} was dedicated, in November 1974, as the city's first fully-enclosed shopping center. SUNLAND PARK MALL {7.7 miles northwest, also in El Paso} welcomed first shoppers in August 1988.

In order to compete effectively with the up-and-coming CIELO VISTA MALL, BASSETT CENTER was given a major renovation. In 1973, the Popular store was enlarged to 194,400 square feet. Then, the mall's open shopping concourse was enclosed and climate-controlled.

This 1.3 million dollar project got underway in January 1974 and was completed in the following December. White terrazzo tile and red brick flooring was laid along the shopping concourse. Carpeted seating areas, skylights and lush, tropical foliage were also installed. When all construction dust settled, BASSETT CENTER encompassed 521,300 leasable square feet and housed fifty-six stores and services.

A 2-level (85,200 square foot) Mervyn's was built onto the south-facing front of the complex. Its grand opening was held  on November 8, 1981. By this time, a 3 million dollar mall face lift was underway, which brought new flooring, landscaping, lighting and a refurbished exterior.

A small addition was built on the northeast corner of the mall. Gutted store space, adjacent to the expansion, was used to create the 15-bay Cafe' Plaza Food Court. It opened, with five vendors, in October 1983. Some of the restaurants were Sbarro the Italian Eatery, Mucho Taco, Corn Dog on a Stick and 1 Potato 2.

In the next year, The White House downsized its store to 65,000 square feet. It re-opened on October 18, 1984. Abandoned space, on the north side of the building, became a new West Mall shopping concourse. Tenants began opening in July 1985. Among twenty new stores were Cutlery World, Footprints, Today's Man and Lane Bryant. 

The mall's revitalization continued with the construction of a (39,000 square foot) SuperSafeway grocery store. Built as a freestanding structure in the east parking area, it welcomed first shoppers on November 30, 1985. The final facet of the 4-year-long renovation repurposed a vacant S.S. Kresge as a new motion picture venue. The United Artists Bassett Cinemas Six commenced operation on December 13, 1985. 

BASSETT CENTER now encompassed approximately 610,400 leasable square feet. It was owned and operated by Charles Basset Center, Limited, a joint venture of twenty-eight local financiers. In 1989, the property was sold to Washington, DC-based Cafritz Interests.

The White house store was shuttered in January 1992. Its was demolished, with a 1-level (117,300 square foot) Target Greatland opening on October 9, 1993. The West Mall had also been extended. By this time, the original Safeway and movie theater outparcels had been knocked down.

A two-store strip center was built in their place. It housed a (39,500 square foot) Service Merchandise and (30,000 square foot) Ross Dress for Less. These opened in 1992. Service Merchandise shut down in April 1999 and was divided into a (29,600 square foot) Marshalls and (9,800 square foot) Dress Barn.

Popular Dry Goods closed for good on November 6, 1995. Dillard's assumed the store space and opened in March 1996. This store went dark in February 2001. The building was demolished in early 2003, with a 1-level (140,700 square foot) Costco opening on November 13, 2003.

Meanwhile, BASSETT CENTER had been sold to Dallas-based Cypress Equities in October 2003. They began a renovation in 2004, with the first phase consisting of an interior and exterior face lift. As a facet of the remodeling, the official name of the shopping hub was changed to BASSETT PLACE on November 2, 2004.

A third makeover phase involved demolition of one of the north store blocks. It was replaced with the Premier Cinemas 18, which showed first features on April 7, 2007. The new theater had taken in adjacent mall space previously occupied by the Bassett Cinemas Six.

The shuttering of Mervyn's, in late 2008, brought Wisconsin's Kohl's into the mall. Their store opened on September 7, 2009. Beaumont, Texas-based Conn's HomePlus, a furniture, appliance and electronics retailer, gutted a section of the mall and dedicated a (40,000 square foot) store on December 21, 2012. It went dark in late 2024 and was proceeded by Burlington.

Meanwhile, Dave & Buster's Grand Sports Cafe replaced most of the mall's Cafe Plaza Food Court. The area was gutted and rebuilt, with the (36,000 square foot) Dave & Buster's opening on April 4, 2016. The original 14-bay Cafe Plaza had been downsized to just 6-bays. With these modifications, BASSETT PLACE encompassed 730,700 leasable square feet and housed sixty-eight store spaces.

Sources:

El Paso Herald-Post
El Paso Times
http://www.epcc.edu/nwlibrary/borderlands / El Paso Community College
El Paso County, Texas tax assessor website
http://www.cypressequities.com
https://www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.joneslanglasalle.com
http://www.jtlcapital.com
https://www.pccmovies.com / Premier Cinemas
https://shopbassettplace.com