Published July 2002

BUILDING ON SUCCESS
Mall aims to enhance its presence in the market
by adding entertainment and dining venues plus an outdoor retail center

By Kimberly Hilden
Herald Business Journal Assistant Editor

With the demolition of the former Lamonts building this past spring, Alderwood Mall began putting its expansion and renovation plans into action.

Those plans, which include 165,000 square feet of new retail space as well as a larger Nordstrom store and 1,500 additional parking spaces, will certainly make the Lynnwood shopping center bigger.

But it’s the hope of mall officials that those plans — which also include the creation of a garden plaza; the addition of a 16-screen, stadium-style theater; and a new outdoor retail center of upscale shops and restaurants — will redefine the mall as a destination for shopping, entertainment and dining.

“It (will be) a different experience than you would feel in the mall today,” said Barry O’Connor, Alderwood General Manager. “You’re going to be outdoors with some of these leading retailers. ... And when you go to the new entertainment and dining complex in the back, it’s going to feel a little different, more family-oriented.”

That complex, known as The Terraces, will be located on the southwest side of the mall adjacent to the food court, and will include an open-air plaza with boutique shops, restaurants and a 16-screen movie theater to be operated by Loews Cineplex Entertainment.

Loews already operates the Grand Cinemas theater just east of the mall and competes against a Regal theater nearby, but John McCauley, Loews’ Vice President of Marketing, said the new theater will have a competitive edge in its seating arrangement.

“Both of those (other) theaters are slope seating, and this theater is stadium seating; it will be first-class entertainment seating — that bit of tangible difference will go a long way to market the theater,” he said.

O’Connor said he sees the plaza, with its water features, trellises and terraces, as a “community gathering spot” to host farmers markets, jazz festivals and similar events.

On the northeast side of the mall, the addition of The Village, a protected, outdoor center, will bring with it an array of upscale shops and restaurants, similar to those found in the U Village or Bellevue Square, O’Connor said.

Along with these external additions, plans call for expansion and renovation of the mall’s interior as well, with Nordstrom moving from its current location to the area where Lamonts once stood and adding 17,000 square feet of space, bringing its total square footage to 144,000.

Two other existing anchor stores, the Bon Marche and JC Penney, also have the option to expand, O’Connor said, and the existing shopping areas will get a new, softer look.

“Today, the mall has somewhat of an industrial look to it — high ceilings, a lot of metal — and what we want to do is bring that down a few notches and bring in some items that would give it a softer feel: wood elements, some trellises, maybe some wood planking inlaid in the tile,” he said.

For visitors who want to sit down and relax, there will be couches instead of hard benches and little dining areas “where you can sit down and relax and spend the day if you choose,” O’Connor said, adding that there also will be a children’s play area, to be sponsored in part by a community organization or business.

In all, the expansion and renovation will take more than two years to complete, O’Connor said, with the first phase, consisting of the new Nordstrom store, interior mall improvements and The Terraces, expected to be completed by late 2003. The movie theater and possibly one of the restaurants is expected to open in spring 2004, and the Village will be the final piece, expected to open by late 2004. Along the way, three parking garages and underground parking will be added.

Stores will remain open during construction, including the Nordstrom store, which will continue operating in its current location until its new store is ready to open, O’Connor said.

He did not disclose the cost of the project, but said it most likely will be “one of the more significant retail developments in this area for the next two years.”

And it’s just one of a handful of expansion/renovation projects mall owner and operator General Growth Properties is currently undertaking with its properties across the country, including malls in Arlington, Texas; Lansing, Mich.; Rochester, Minn.; and Gainesville, Fla., among others.

Why did Chicago-based General Growth decide to add Alderwood to that list?

Its location, for one, O’Connor said. Located at the interchange of Interstate 5 and Interstate 405, Alderwood is well positioned to take advantage of all the growth occurring in Snohomish and north King counties.

“And the mall does extremely well today — by industry standards, even by General Growth standards,” he said. “What we want to do is enhance that and preserve that asset for us and take it to the next level in terms of providing for not only shopping, as it is primarily today, but also for dining and entertainment and really serving the community.”

Since announcing plans for expansion, the mall has been inundated with calls from retailers expressing interest and has received support from the city and the community at large, O’Connor said.

“You’ve got all the ingredients to make it a successful project,” O’Connor said. “You’ve got a city that is very cooperative and wanting to be a partner with us; you’ve got retailers who have high demand and interest in the project; and then we’ve got the community, which is already supporting and will continue to support this mall.”

Retailers who have already pre-leased space include Border’s Books, Claim Jumper restaurant, California Pizza Kitchen and Gene Juarez Day Salon & Spa, and O’Connor estimates that 500 to 1,000 new jobs could be created once the expansion is completed and the retail space is filled.

Plus, Alderwood’s expansion is in line with Lynnwood’s own plans to create a city center just south of the mall, he said, redevelopment that is expected to include a conference center and transit hub as well as a mix of commercial and residential development.

City officials agree.

“An expanded Alderwood Mall generates many benefits for the city and is a key catalyst for attracting future development to our city,” David Kleitsch, the city’s Economic Development Director, said in a prepared statement. “This project provides new energy and a clear vision for Lynnwood as a premier shopping and business destination in the Puget Sound region.”

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