User talk:TcSkinnerplay

Beechmont Mall

The original Beechmont Mall, showcasing Shillito's.

Constructed in 1969 as an enclosed shopping mall in eastern Cincinnati, the mall flourished as the suburbs blossomed towards Interstate 275. The center stagnated in the late 1980s and 1990s due to increased competition from other malls, and was demolished in 2003. It has been replaced with Anderson Towne Center, an open-air shopping center.

Featuring 56 stores and several anchors, the 600,000 square-foot Beechmont Mall opened in 1969.(11)(12)(15) It was anchored with a Shillito's and a H and S Pogue, and also featured a F.W. Woolworth's, The Gap, and a Thriftway Food and Drug.(23)

The initial owners, however, were under-capitalized and filed for bankruptcy not long after the center opened.(12)

The mall was expanded in 1980 with a northern addition that included a 94,700-square-foot Hills Department Store,(22) and additional retail space.(23) One year later, Pogue was replaced with Elder-Beerman, and in 1982, Shillito's became Shillito-Rike's, which became Lazarus in 1986.

The Hills Department Store on the northern end of the mall later became a K-Mart.(23) In 1992, Elder-Beerman vacated and was replaced by Parisian.

The mall languished in the late 1980s and 1990s due to increased competition from Eastgate Mall, and later Newport on the Levee and Norwood's Rookwood Commons.(12) In 1997, Anderson Township officials began pursuing mall revitalization,(11) although that did little to help the shopping center.

On July 31, 1999,(21) the Parisian department store closed its Beechwood Mall location.(12) Within a year, only a handful of stores remained and the food court was entirely deserted. Only Lazarus, K-Mart, CVS Pharmacy and a handful of stores and restaurants remained. The managing company of the center since 1997,(17) Zamias Center, discussed redeveloping the mall into an open-air center. Zamias was owned by Whitehall Real Estate Fund.

In January 2001, Zamias prepared to tear down the aging retail center and replace it with a lifestyle center.(18) The new center was 85% pre-leased.(20) Several stores were shuttled into converted mobile homes in anticipation of the construction, which was slated for completion by fall. The redevelopment of the mall, to be called Anderson Towne Center, was put on hold in March due to a slumping retail economy.(19)

In December, Victory Investments purchased the deteriorating Beechmont Mall.(8)(13) One year later, on July 31, Anderson Township purchased a small gully behind the mall for $1 million.(11)(16) The gully had become a dump, although the township envisioned that it would provide for flash flood and erosion control, and for a possible park.

On January 7, 2003, bids were opened for demolition of the shopping center.(14) Two months later, on March 10, tear-down began of most of the blighted shopping center.(8)Twenty-five residents won a raffle for the chance to sit in a backhoe to help maneuver a wrecking ball.(9) Demolition was completed in June (10) for $1.6 million.(9) Lazarus and K-Mart were spared, as they became free-standing structures.(14)

On August 12, the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority's board of trustees approved spending $350,000 to help fund a park-and-ride facility at Anderson Towne Center.(7) The hub was designed to relieve congestion on the current park-and-ride lot near the township's administrative building, and was part of the MetroMoves plan that included light rail and streetcars for the region.

The new 21-acre Anderson Towne Center opened in October 2004.(4) Patterned after a 1950s 'town square', the lifestyle center featured the nation's largest Kroger store, a remodeled Lazarus (now Macy's) and K-Mart Department Store.(2)(5)(6)(8)

In 2005, construction of two office structures were completed on the former mall site that contained medical and general office space.(2)(3)

In the fall of 2007, the township two-story administration offices and performing arts auditorium opened at a cost of $6 million.(2)(6) It included a 15-acre park (13) with small man-made lake with a waterfall, and a two-mile long hike and bike path. A $2.5 million Metro bus park-and-ride station opened with 200-spots.(1)(6)

Anderson Towne Center cost $21.1 million,(1) although the developer invested more than $30 million into the project.(3)

The redevelopment effort attracted national attention.(1) On July 28, 2006, 25 government and civic leaders from Indianapolis visited Anderson in search of ideas on how to revive a deteriorating mall in the northwestern part of the city. This was followed by government leaders and professionals from Maikop, Russia that came with an interest in local economic development. Former tenants

* Hills Department Store (22)    * Shillito's (23)     * H and S Pogue (23)     * F.W. Woolworth's (23)     * Thriftway Food and Drug (23)     * Shillito-Rike's (23)     * Elder-Beerman (23)     * Lazarus (23)     * Parisian (21)

Speedy deletion nomination of Whatever, I do what I want


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