Summit Place Mall

Summit Place Mall, originally Pontiac Mall, was a shopping mall in Pontiac, Michigan. Opened in 1962 as the first enclosed mall in Michigan,[1][3] it was built on a 74-acre (30 ha) site located in Waterford Township. After expansions in 1987 and 1993, it comprised more than 1,400,000 square feet (130,000 m2) of retail space. At its peak, it had approximately 200 inline tenants and six anchor stores: Hudson's (later Marshall Field's, then Macy's), Sears, J. C. Penney, Montgomery Ward, Service Merchandise, and Kohl's.

Summit Place Mall
LocationWaterford Township, Michigan, United States
Opening dateMay 10, 1962 (1962-05-10)[1]
Closing dateSeptember 10, 2009 (2009-09-10) (mall corridors)
December 7, 2014 (2014-12-07) (last remaining anchor)
DeveloperA & W Management[2]
No. of stores and servicesapprox. 200 at peak
No. of anchor tenants6
Total retail floor area1,400,000 sq ft (130,000 m2)
No. of floors1 (2 in former Sears, 3 in former Macy's)

Following the opening of Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in nearby Auburn Hills, Michigan in 1998, Summit Place Mall lost many of its tenants to this newer mall, also losing Service Merchandise and Montgomery Ward to their respective bankruptcies in 1999 and 2000. In the 2000s, Summit Place became a dead mall as the majority of its stores closed. Kohl's closed in March 2009 and the mall concourses were closed off in September 2009. J.C. Penney and Macy's remained until early 2010, and Sears until 2014.

History

Michigan's first enclosed shopping center,[1] Pontiac Mall was built at the northwest corner of Telegraph Road (US 24) and Elizabeth Lake Road, on the boundary between the city of Pontiac and Waterford Township. Two tenants opened ahead of the mall: a Kroger supermarket began operation in 1961,[4] and a Montgomery Ward department store in February 1962.[5] Opening on Thursday, May 10, 1962, the mall featured one other major department store: a "budget" branch of Detroit-based Hudson's, which unlike the existing Hudson's stores, did not feature furniture or small appliances.[4] It was later upgraded to a full-line Hudson's store. Among the mall's 42 inline tenants on opening day were a Cunningham Drug pharmacy and a Kresge dime store. It occupied 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) of store area overall.[6] The mall was built by A&W Management (later known as Ramco-Gershenson and now known as RPT Realty)[2] and its architect was A. Arnold Agree, son of Detroit architect Charles N. Agree.[7] The mall concourses featured over 120 sculptures.[6] Sears built a 181,900-square-foot (16,900 m2) store north of the property in 1972, although this store was not part of the mall at the time.[8] In 1972, an elephant named Little Jenny, who starred in the movie Elephant Walk, was buried on the mall site.[9]

Ramco-Gershenson announced renovation plans on the mall in 1983. According to then-company treasurer Dennis Gershenson, the mall had "fallen behind current shopping center design" and had lost many key tenants such as the Cunningham Drug store due to chains going out of business. The $1,000,000 renovation included new store facades, floors, and ceilings, plus renovated designs for Hudson's and Montgomery Ward. Foot Locker and Kinney Shoes were relocated to new storefronts, while new tenants such as Musicland, Circus World, The Limited, Casual Corner, Sibley's Shoes, Gap, and B. Dalton were added.[10] Following the renovations, the mall was renamed Summit Place Mall.[11]

J. C. Penney opened at the mall in August 1988, replacing a store in Bloomfield Township.[12] This was part of an expansion first announced in 1987, which added 470,000 square feet (44,000 m2) of retail space, along with a Service Merchandise catalog showroom, a MainStreet department store (bought out by Kohl's soon after opening),[13] and a connection to the existing Sears.[14] Also included in the new construction was a food court called Picnic Place.

Late 1990s-early 2000s: Decline

Service Merchandise and Montgomery Ward closed in 1999 and 2001, respectively, as both chains declared bankruptcy. Also in 2000, Hudson's was remodeled, before being renamed Marshall Field's a year later.[15][16] After the loss of these two anchors, Summit Place Mall began losing inline tenants, primarily to Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, which opened in nearby Auburn Hills, Michigan in 1998.

General Growth Properties sold Summit Place Mall in 2002 to California-based Namco Financial. Namco announced plans to change the name of the mall to Festivals of Waterford, and add a family entertainment center as well as a $700,000 kid's play area and a waterpark, the latter of which would be located in the former Montgomery Ward.[17][18][19] That December, the children's play area opened,[20] although the waterpark plans were canceled after the city decided not to risk the $20 million indoor waterpark, fearing that the income could not repay the debt.[21]

Mid-late 2000-early 2010s

State legislative action in 2005 resulted in a law that would allow the owners of Summit Place to receive a tax abatement for redevelopment of the site.[22] The proposed redevelopment called for demolition of half of the mall, and the rezoning of much of the property to include housing.[23]

Marshall Field's was renamed Macy's in September 2006 after Marshall Field's parent company May Co. was purchased by Federated Department Stores (now Macy's, Inc.).[15] In August 2007, Waterford Township explored the creation of a "Corridor Improvement Authority," or CIA, to look into future uses for the property.[24] The mall continued to lose tenants throughout the mid-2000s, including all tenants in the food court and the children's playplace.[17][25] Kohl's closed on March 12, 2009.[26] Following the closure of this anchor, the mall became 96% vacant.[27] The entire mall closed, except for the three remaining anchors, on September 10, 2009.[28] Both J.C. Penney and Macy's closed in March, 2010, following closure announcements in January.[29][30][31] Sears, the last tenant of the mall, announced its closure in September, 2014.[32] The store closed December 7, 2014 leaving the entire mega-shopping hub vacant and thus it has become a magnet for vandals, vagrants and scrappers.[33] Waterford Township has placed the mall on its dangerous buildings list and has called for owners to either fix up the mall or tear it down.[34] Demolition on the mall finally began in May 2019. Summit Place Mall is now Oakland County Business Center.[35]

Peripheral development

Summit Place Mall is surrounded by multiple strip malls and big-box stores, many of which have vacancies as well. One of the first strip malls in the vicinity of the mall opened in the late 1980s called Oakland Pointe. Originally anchored by Builders Square, before it relocated to Summit North, Mervyns, Toys "R" Us/Kids "R" Us, Marshalls (later AJWright), Media Play and Circuit City, this strip lost all of its anchors except Toys "R" Us through the mid-2000s, although Big Lots was added. The 450,158-square-foot[36] shopping center survived both the closing of Summit Place and the state takeover of Pontiac, Michigan, where it is located, and has since added Value World and Harbor Freight Tools, and later in 2015 Forman Mills opened in the former Mervyn's, joining Toys "R" Us as a co-anchor tenant.

In 1991, Summit Place's developers opened Summit Crossings, a strip mall on the west side of the site, anchored by Office Max, Sports Authority, Target, and Farmer Jack. Sports Authority, Farmer Jack and Target are now vacant. Two years later, Summit North opened, also built by the mall's developers. Summit North contained Best Buy which is now closed and has moved further down Telegraph Road (US-24) and Builders Square, the latter of which was converted to Home Quarters before closing. Gander Mountain built next to Best Buy in 1995. The former HQ/Builder's Square was partially converted to Steve & Barry's in 2006, replacing a Steve & Barry's which closed at Great Lakes Crossing.[37] This newer store closed in early 2009 with the chain's bankruptcy.

Toys "R" Us closed in June 2018.

See also

References
  1. http://www.kendalto.com/documents/OncethrivingdeadmallsthroughoutmetroDetroitnowstruggletosurvive.6.18.14_000.pdf
  2. "No title". Realty and Building. Economist Publishing Company. 147: 122. 1962. Cite uses generic title (help)
  3. "Demolition ahead for Summit Place Mall?".
  4. "Start work on Pontiac Hudson's". Detroit Free Press. June 28, 1961. p. 14.
  5. "Ward adds new store at Pontiac". Detroit Free Press. February 1, 1962. p. 15.
  6. "Pontiac's 42-store 'mall' open". Detroit Free Press. May 11, 1962. p. 3A.
  7. "Pontiac Mall -- Architect Dream". Detroit Free Press. March 25, 1962.
  8. Rosenberg, Manuel (1966). "Markets of America".
  9. "Elephant buried at Pontiac Mall". The Victoria Advocate. 23 July 1972. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  10. Hansell, Betsey (April 28, 1983). "Pontiac mall to get a 'modern' look". Detroit Free Press. p. 7B.
  11. Weddell, Dorothy (September 21, 1983). "After the renovations, a new name". Detroit Free Press. p. 8B.
  12. Lawrence, Beverly Hall (July 27, 1988). "Penney is on the move". Detroit Free Press. p. 6C.
  13. "No title". The Detroiter. Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce: 12. 1987. Cite uses generic title (help)
  14. Lawrence, Beverly Hall (June 11, 1987). "Summit to grow by 100 stores". Detroit Free Press. p. 4C.
  15. The Oakland Press: Local News
  16. The Oakland Press: Auto/Business: Retailer prepares to welcome new owner
  17. "Newspaper Archive".
  18. Waterford Township, Michigan - 404 Error Page
  19. Mall plans please township: Spinal Column Online
  20. "Newspaper Archive".
  21. "Officials Consider Building Waterpark at Detroit-Area Mall". Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. 2003-01-31.
  22. Mossa, Lara (2005-11-10). "Law will help Summit Place get back on feet". The Oakland Press. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  23. Mossa, Lara (2005-11-18). "Housing may replace part of Summit Place mall". Oakland Press. Archived from the original on August 10, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-19.
  24. Corridor authority proposed: Spinal Column Online
  25. "Archives of the Detroit News".
  26. Stores closing in Waterford - theoaklandpress.com
  27. Brasier, L.L. (2007-04-15). "Sports center possible for mall: It's idea to revive Summit Place". Detroit Free Press.
  28. "What does the future hold for Summit Place mall?". Oakland Press. 2009-08-31. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
  29. Guest, Greta. Macy's at Summit Place Mall prepares to close Detroit Free Press, lsj.com, January 5, 2010, retrieved 2010-Jan-05
  30. Guest, Greta (19 January 2010). "JCPenney store in Waterford to close". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on January 21, 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  31. Duggan, Daniel (2010-01-21). "Summit Place J.C. Penney, Macy's stores to close". Crain's Detroit Business. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  32. Hopkins, Carol (17 September 2014). "Sears, last store at Waterford's Summit Place Mall, to close". The Oakland Press. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  33. https://web.archive.org/web/20180225143257/http://media.theoaklandpress.com/2016/04/27/summit-place-mall-interior/#1
  34. http://www.wxyz.com/news/summit-place-mall-on-waterfords-dangerous-building-list
  35. https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2019/05/07/summit-place-mall-demolished-oakland/1127825001/
  36. Oakland Pointe at rubloffusa.com
  37. The Oakland Press: Business

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