Published June 2004

Alderwood taking shape
Retail hub’s $50 million expansion to be completed in time for holiday season

Snohomish County Business Journal/JOHN WOLCOTT On the northeast side of Alderwood, exteriors are being applied to the framework of new buildings at The Village at Alderwood, a development of upscale shops and restaurants arranged in a narrow street setting resembling a small downtown where overhanging canopies will provide shelter for shoppers even in inclement weather.

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

In just a few months — on Nov. 4 — the long-awaited completion of the huge $50 million expansion and renovation of the Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood will be celebrated with the unveiling of 50 new stores, including restaurants, a 16-screen theater and new outdoor shopping venues.

The two-and-a-half-year expansion of Alderwood — as the regional shopping center is known in its new promotions — is designed to make the mall even more attractive than before, not just for shopping but also for dining, entertainment and additional upscale shopping options never before available there.

“Tracking retail business in our surrounding market showed us that this area deserved a better and expanded shopping center to compete with other businesses in our primary trade area,” said Jerry Alder, senior general manager of Alderwood. Once the mall work is finished, Alderwood officials anticipate annual spending per square foot will increase from the present $450 to the $600 level, which would equal numbers tracked at Bellevue Square.

“On November 4th we’ll begin several days of celebration on the entire property. People will have their first opportunity to shop in the new outdoor Village and the Terraces, as well as in many other new stores inside. It’ll be a festive mood throughout the mall, with some great shopping promotions. We expect it will be a special event that we will be repeating annually on the anniversary of the opening,” said Tamera Wachter, senior marketing director for Alderwood.

With increasing competition from as far away as Bellevue Square and potentially as close as Lynnwood’s planned multimillion-dollar city-center development now on the drawing boards, Alderwood’s owners — Chicago-based General Growth Properties — decided to make their move.

In 2002 plans were announced for a master scheme that would grow the already large mall from just over a million square feet to 1.4 million square feet, adding more than 270,000 square feet of contemporary retail stores, restaurants and entertainment venues.

At mid-2004, the mall has finished a major interior makeover, from an attractive new floor decor to softer, attractively colored ceiling panels that hide much of the long-exposed metal structure. Hard benches in the mall’s shopping corridors have been replaced by soft sofas for weary shoppers. Plus, many of the existing 150 stores have refreshed their own entrances and interiors with significant remodeling projects.

Several stores expanded as part of their remodeling, including the Mariners’ Team Store, Motherhood Maternity, Games Workshop, Kitchen & Company, Electronics Boutique, Kits Cameras, Victoria’s Secret and Victoria’s Secret Beauty.

A new, larger 144,000-square-foot Nordstrom store has been built on the site of the former Lamonts store. Opened last September, after adding 17,000 square feet of retail space to its former size, Nordstrom’s increased presence at the mall has enhanced the upscale store’s role as a major anchor at Alderwood, along with J.C. Penney, Bon-Macy’s and Sears.

In April, another major milestone in the mall expansion was reached with the opening of the first section of The Terraces at Alderwood, at the southwest corner of the mall.

The Terraces is a new 24,000-square-foot indoor and outdoor retail and leisure lifestyle area that includes elevated outdoor seating in an upscale garden plaza setting, a variety of shops, new restaurants and a 16-screen theater by Loews Cineplex Entertainment with seating for 3,800.

A massive floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace creates a visual gateway between The Terraces and the Terraces Food Court inside Alderwood’s mall area. On either side of the fireplace, huge retractable glass doors open to The Terraces, which is filled with water displays, warm lighting, casual seating and smaller fireplaces.

Snohomish County Business Journal/JOHN WOLCOTT The groundwork is being laid for a 16-screen theater to be part of The Terraces, a 24,000-square-foot indoor and outdoor retail and leisure lifestyle area at Alderwood. To be operated by Loews Cineplex Entertainment, the theater will have seating for 3,800.

In late April, the second Starbucks at the mall opened in the food court, along with Snohomish County’s first Jamba Juice, offering a menu of healthful fruit smoothies and juices. Inside the mall, Limited Too opened in early May with apparel and accessories for fashion-conscious girls, plus Brookstone, with hard-to-find tools, golf items and specialty products for homes and pools. Other new tenants in the mall include Ruby’s Diner, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Payless Shoe Source and Aeropostale.

Alderwood’s expansion also includes two 1,000-vehicle parking garages, already finished and in service, to make up for some of the parking space taken for the expansion of the mall, Alder said.

At the northeast corner of the area’s largest shopping center, exteriors are being applied to the framework of new buildings at The Village at Alderwood, on the site of the former Nordstrom store. The new area features an array of upscale shops and restaurants arranged in a narrow street setting resembling a small downtown where overhanging canopies will provide shelter for shoppers even in inclement weather as well as providing outdoor areas for various events and dining.

Tenants in The Terraces and The Village will include Pottery Barn, Coldwater Creek, REI, McGrath’s Fish House, Borders Books, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Chico’s, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Ravenna Gardens, Optical Illusions, Claim Jumper, Williams Sonoma and a Gene Juarez Salon.

Although General Growth Properties hasn’t announced a dollar value for the expansion work at the mall, Lynnwood Economic Development Director David Kleisch has called it “a $50 million project.”

When the mammoth project was begun in 2002, the mall owners voiced hope that the eventual opening of the new Alderwood facility in late 2004 would coincide with a recovery in the regional economy. Judging by the region’s warming economy over the past few months, the project appears to be right on target.

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