Military Circle Mall - Raw & Real Retail

Описание: This is our walkthrough of the Military Circle Mall in Norfolk, Virginia from July 26, 2018. This was a really nice property that has unfortunately fallen on hard times. There are no anchor stores left, and many inline stores are empty, some with open gates.

Songs used in this video (in order):

Simon Haseley & Eric Marving - Drover
Delle Haensch Band - Visitors Welcome
Dumpty Cooper Group - Port Morris
Dumpty - Explanation
Steve Gray - Sunshine Shuffle

Here is a decent write up of the property from the Mall Hall of Fame blog:

http://mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com...

Developed by a joint venture of Norfolk's Harvey L. Lindsay, Jr. and Jacksonville, Florida's Morris Alpert, Military Circle Mall was designed by Atlanta's Toombs, Amisano & Wells firm. The complex was built on a 122 acre site, located 3.9 miles east of center city Norfolk, and encompassed approximately 735,800 leasable square feet.

One of the mall's first operational stores, a 2-level (201,900 square foot) J.C. Penney debuted on January 15, 1970. Also serving as anchors were a 2-level (152,200 square foot) J.B. Hunter and 2-level (119,600 square foot), Norfolk-based Smith & Welton.

Fifty-two stores and services were dedicated August 6, 1970. These included Jo-Ann Fabrics, Hickory Farms, Chess King, Rogis' delicatessen, Shulman's men's wear, Sanfred's ladies' wear, Variety Records, D.P. Paul Jewelers, Orange Tree, Le Petit Cafe, World Bazaar, a Piccadilly Cafeteria, J.G. McCrory 5 & 10, and 14-story (200-room) Sheraton Inn. When fully leased, the mall housed seventy-three tenant spaces.

Military Circle Mall was only 3 years old when a southward expansion got underway. It added a 2-level (167,400 square foot) Leggett and approximately 52,000 square feet of inline store space. The addition was completed in 1974.

The mall's first motion picture venue, the American Multi-Cinema Circle 6, was located inside the shopping center and was in business by the mid-1970s. The American Multi-Cinema Circle 4, built in the northwestern periphery of the mall, showed its first features in 1981.

Anchor rebrandings began with the J.B. Hunter store, which became a Thalhimers in 1976 and Hecht's in 1992. Smith & Welton shut down in 1990. The building would sit vacant for nearly 8 years. The Leggett location was rebranded by Belk February 13, 1997 and was shuttered September 20, 1998.

Maryland's Rouse Company acquired the mall in January 1986, but eventually sold the property. Chicago's Urban Retail Properties was operating the complex by the mid-1990s. They embarked on a 12 million dollar renovation in May 1995. This included the installation of an 8-bay Food Court, new floors and skylights. Victoria's Secret and Elite Child joined the retail roster of over one hundred and twenty stores and services. The remodeled mall was officially re-dedicated September 17, 1996.

A second wave of renovation began in 1998. This time around, two vacant anchors would be razed and replaced. The first, Smith & Welton, gave way to a 2-level (128,300 square foot) Sears. Its grand opening was held July 17, 1999. The abandoned Leggett/Belk on the south end of the mall was razed and replaced by the Cinemark 18 megaplex. It showed its first features March 31, 2000. With all renovations completed, the shopping hub encompassed approximately 864,700 leasable square feet.

New York City's Thor Equities bought the mall in September 2002. By August 2004, they had bequeathed a new name: The Gallery at Military Circle. The mall's most recent anchor rebranding took place February 1, 2006, when a Macy's masthead was installed on the Hecht's store.

Things began to slip soon after. The hospitality tower, operating for some time as the Doubletree Club Hotel, closed "for renovations" in 2009 and did not re-open. Sears permanently closed in March 2012. J.C. Penney shut down in May 2014, leaving only Macy's and the Cinemark 18 as anchors. Macy's was shuttered in March 2016.

Meanwhile, Thor Equities defaulted on their mall loan in April 2015. As a result of the foreclosure, a public auction was scheduled for July 2015. There was no buyer. Ownership was assumed by the lender, who enlisted the Fort Worth-based Woodmont Company to manage the struggling shopping hub. Its name was officially changed back to Military Circle Mall soon after.

In 2014, the City of Norfolk purchased the J.C. Penney building for $2.5 million. As of 2018, Optima Health and Rocket Mortgage lease space in that building.