Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/704472
Westgate, Cleveland C leveland's Westgate stands as a testament to the ability of shopping centers to rein- vent themselves, sometimes dramati- cally. Westgate was an open-air shop- ping plaza with about 50 stores when it opened in 1954 in the suburbs of Fairview Park and Rocky River. It was one of the country's first post-war sub- urban centers with department-store anchors. Its earliest tenants included Halle Brothers and Higbee's, two now-defunct department store chains unique to Ohio. The Higbee's store was reportedly that Cleveland-based chain's first suburban outpost. In the late 1960s, the center was en- closed as part of a renovation aimed at boosting its competitive standing, and it was renamed Westgate Mall. The Cleve- land-based Richard E. Jacobs Group bought the property in 1984 and ran it profitably for nearly two decades. But in the early 2000s, Westgate's fortunes, like those of many older enclosed malls, be- gan to wane as a result of changing con- sumer preferences and new competition. In response, the Jacobs Group embarked on an ambitious plan to redevelop the mall into a pedestrian- River Oaks Shopping Center, Houston F ew shopping centers have survived as long as Hous- ton's River Oaks Shopping Center, which opened in 1937. This open-air center, noted for its original art- deco-style buildings, was the brainchild of the late Hugh Pot- ter, an attorney and developer. Potter developed the center in phases to provide shopping for residents of his planned River Oaks upscale residential community. Yet, by the time Houston-based Weingarten Realty Inves- tors bought the property in 1971, it had fallen into disrepair. Having changed hands several times through the years, the center became dilapidated and had a second-rate mix of ten- ants, including pawnshops and secondhand stores. Stanford Alexander, Weingarten's president at the time of the acquisition, saw in the property a diamond in the rough, according to his son, Drew, the company's current president and CEO and an ICSC past chairman. Today the elder Alexander is Wein- garten's chairman. O v e r t h e p a s t 4 5 years, Weingarten Re- alty has spent millions on renovations and ex- pansions to the center, which the city designated a l a n d m a r k i n 2 0 0 7 . The city also awarded l a n d m a r k s t a t u s t o the center's historical theater, which was built in 1939 and w h i c h L a n d m a r k Theatres has operated since 1976. Weingarten has focused on bringing uniformity and returning the property to its original art-deco glory. In its first remodel, the company tore out drab, earth-tone awnings and revealed original sculpted plaster fascias, which were then repainted white, as they once had been. Weingarten also preserved the origi- nal black tiles and planted nearly 90 palm trees, trucked in from Florida. The company has worked to improve the tenant mix, which now includes popular restaurants, cof- fee shops, upscale national chains and an art gallery. Wein- garten plans to further develop the site and add new uses. There is already a small amount of office space on-site. "The center is and always has been a lifestyle center," said Drew Alexander, even though it predates that term. The cen- ter's longevity has a lot to do with its strong location, he says. The River Oaks area is still one of the most affluent neighbor- hoods in the city. The center is also close to downtown Hous- ton and the fast-growing midtown district. "It is a wonderful location that, in our minds, keeps getting better," he said. "It really reinforces the maxim of this business, which is that location is everything." 40 S C T / A u g u s t 2 0 1 6