Westdale Mall facts for kids
Westdale Mall in 2006
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| Location | Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States |
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| Opening date | October 4, 1979 |
| Closing date | March 24, 2014 |
| Developer | The Hahn Company |
| Management | Frew Development Group |
| Owner | A. Shapiro, LLC |
| No. of stores and services | 50 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 7 (6 open, 1 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 854,000 ft² (79,000 m²) |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Parking | 5,500 spaces |
Westdale Mall was a large, indoor shopping mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. It had two levels and was one of two big malls in the city. In its later years, Westdale Mall had many empty stores and was sometimes called a "dead mall."
In 2013, a local group called A. Shapiro LLC bought the mall. Another company, Frew Development Group, then leased the mall and planned to spend $90 million to make it new again. The main stores at Westdale Mall today include JCPenney, Shoe Dept. Encore, Ross Dress for Less, U-Haul, Burlington, and PetSmart. One large store space, which used to be Younkers, is now empty.
Contents
History of Westdale Mall
Building the Mall
Plans for Westdale Mall were first shared on March 29, 1972. The original idea was to build a mall about 560,000 square feet big. It would have two or three main stores, called anchor stores, and 30 to 50 smaller shops.
Later, a company called The Hahn Company bought the land for the mall. They asked the city to change the rules for more land so they could build an even bigger mall. Some citizens were worried that a larger mall would hurt other businesses in Cedar Rapids. But the city council still approved the changes in 1974.
Building the mall was delayed because of a tough economy in 1974. Then, a seven-week strike by electricians also pushed back the opening. Finally, Westdale Mall opened its doors on October 4, 1979.
Even with these problems and some job losses in the area, Westdale Mall was very popular. By 1981, it was almost full with 114 stores. People came to shop from all over eastern Iowa and even from nearby states.
Changes in Stores and Owners
When Westdale Mall was being built, four big stores planned to open there: JCPenney, Montgomery Ward, Younkers, and Brandeis. However, Brandeis decided not to open.
Wards and JCPenney, which both moved from downtown Cedar Rapids, were the first two main stores to open. Younkers and Petersen Harned Von Maur (which took Brandeis's place) opened in 1980.
Over the years, some of these big stores closed. Wards closed in 2001 when the whole company shut down. Later, Steve & Barry's opened in that space in 2005, but it also closed in 2008. Von Maur closed its store in 2007 because business was slow. This left Westdale Mall with only two main stores by 2010.
The mall also had different owners. The Hahn Company built it, then it was sold to The Rouse Company in 1998. Later, other companies managed the mall. In 2006, Westdale Mall faced financial problems and was sold again in 2007.
Many smaller stores started to leave the mall, especially because of competition from another big mall nearby called Coral Ridge Mall. By March 2007, more than half of the mall's stores had closed.
The 2008 Flood and What Happened Next
After a big flood hit Iowa in 2008, some of Westdale Mall's empty stores were used to help the community. City and county offices moved there temporarily. Groups like the American Red Cross and FEMA also set up help centers at the mall.
The Cedar Rapids Public Library opened a temporary library called "The Bridge" inside an old store space at Westdale. This helped the community because the main library downtown was badly damaged by the flood. The library stayed at the mall until 2012.
New Plans and Redevelopment
On January 1, 2013, a new group of investors, A. Shapiro LLC, bought Westdale Mall. They teamed up with Frew Development Group to make big changes. They planned to spend $90 million to rebuild the Westdale Mall area.
The idea was to tear down most of the old mall, except for the JCPenney and Younkers stores. They wanted to turn the area into a "multiuse destination." This means it would have a mix of shops, restaurants, and other businesses, similar to outdoor shopping centers.
The mall stayed open until March 31, 2014. After that, all the smaller stores moved out, and most of the mall was torn down, leaving only the main anchor stores.
In 2018, Younkers announced it would close its store. This left JCPenney as the only original anchor store still open at the site.
