Kenwood Towne Centre

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Kenwood Towne Centre


image_width =
caption =
location = Cincinnati, Ohio
opening_date = 1956 as "Kenwood Plaza" 1998, reopened as "Kenwood Plaza"'
developer =
manager = General Growth Properties
owner = General Growth Properties
architect =
number_of_stores =
number_of_anchors = 2 (Nordstrom's anchor under construction)
floor_area = convert|1113000|sqft|m2
floors = 1.5
website = [http://www.kenwoodtownecentre.com/ www.kenwoodtownecentre.com]

Kenwood Towne Centre is a shopping mall located at corner of Montgomery and Kenwood Roads, adjacent to Interstate 71, northeast of Cincinnati.

Presently encompassing 1,113,000 leasable square feet, and housing 180 stores and services, Kenwood Towne Centre is operated by Chicago-based, General Growth Properties.

History

The mall opened in 1956. Originally known as Kenwood Plaza, it was linear in orientation and anchored by H & S Pogue and McAlpin's, two Cincinnati-based department stores. The PLAZA was situated on a 34 acre tract, north of downtown Cincinnati. The site is not located inside a physical city limits, but lies within Hamilton County's Sycamore Township, in an area commonly known as Kenwood.

The original center underwent a major renovation in 1988. The eastern half of the structure was razed. The western portion -and the two anchor stores- were incorporated into the first phase of a convert|100000|sqft|m2|sing=on, enclosed shopping mall. The second phase of the project involved the construction of a second -450,000 square foot- bi-level mall corridor, with Cincinnati based Lazarus department store on its northern end. The newly-remodeled shopping center was renamed Kenwood Towne Centre.

Anchors

In 1983, Pogue's was bought by Indianapolis-based L. S. Ayres and the store name changed accordingly. In 1988, L. S. Ayres closed all their Cincinnati locations. The Kenwood anchor was then sold to J.C. Penney. Birmingham-based Parisian purchased the location in 1993. That store closed in February 2007 after Parisian was purchased by Belk of Charlotte NC. The building will be demolished to make way for a new Nordstrom store.

The original McAlpin's anchor was renamed Dillard's in 1998 after McAlpin's parent, Mercantile Stores was bought by Dillard's. The Lazarus store, built during the 1988 renovation, was renamed Lazarus-Macy's in 2003. The store fully adopted the Macy's name in 2005.

Recent renovations

A second phase of renovations, completed in 2005, expanded the Macy's store to over convert|213000|sqft|m2, and added an adjacent, multi-level parking garage to the rear of the store. These additions have turned the original -circa-1956- strip center into metropolitan Cincinnati's third-largest shopping mall.

The latest round of renovations will include the razing of the old Pogue's/Parisian anchor (on the mall's southwest end). This is being replaced by a new 2-level (140,000 square foot), Seattle-based Nordstrom. This store should be completed by late 2009.

Upscale shopping

Kenwood Towne Centre had become Cincinnati's most upscale shopping mall by the late 1990s. In order for the center to remain in this position, the construction of a trendy, open-air "lifestyle" component began in 2003. This bi-level addition, known as the Streetscape, comprised convert|100000|sqft|m2 and was built onto the southern front of the existing mall, which faces Montgomery Road. It was completed in 2004, and added 12 new retail stores and restaurants.

Current Anchor Stores

*Dillard's
*Macy's
*Nordstrom - coming soon

References

* [http://mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_archive.html Mall Hall Of Fame: Kenwood Towne Centre October 2006 Archive]

External links

* [http://www.kenwoodtownecentre.com Kenwood Towne Centre website]