Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/704472
Westfield Old Orchard, Skokie, Ill. T he same year Southdale opened its doors, another trend- setting shopping center made its debut. Old Orchard Shopping Center, now called Westfield Old Orchard, opened some 60 years ago in the suburb of Skokie, on Chicago's North Shore. The center, developed by Philip Klutznick, became known as the prototype of the open-air regional mall. "Old Or- chard was the first of its type: the open regional shopping center," said architect Donald Hackl in a 1999 published report. His Chi- cago-based firm, Loebl, Schlossman & Hackl, was the original ar- chitect for the project and for a major renovation and expansion that was completed in 1995. "In its original version, Old Orchard appealed to a suburban context, with buildings and materials fa- miliar to suburban dwellers," said Hackl. "It took on a life very different from urban counterparts." The shops at Old Or- chard faced inward, rather than overlooking the parking areas. The mall's irregular layout encouraged shoppers to stroll through a series of landscaped common areas and created a sense of discovery with each turn. For many years the mall — whose original anchors were Marshall Field's and Montgomery Ward — was regarded as the premier shopping destination in the Chicago area. But by the mid-1980s, it had lost its dominant market position, bested by newer, larger shopping centers. In the early 1990s the former JMB Realty Corp., which then owned the mall, embarked on a $200 million expan- sion and renovation. The redevelopment, completed in 1995, nearly doubled Old Orchard's size, to 1.8 million square feet. Two new anchors, a Nordstrom and a Bloomingdale's, joined the existing Marshall Field's, Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue an- chors. An enclosed food court, customer-service center and parking decks were also added. The renovation also enhanced the mall's garden motif, with the addition of lush landscaping, sculptures, fountains and mo- saics. Westfield Corp. acquired the mall in 2002 and subsequently undertook its own multimillion-dollar renovation. Among other things, the company replaced the mall's Saks Fifth Av- enue building with a landscaped plaza that is home to a collection of shops and restaurants. Today Westfield Old Orchard, which generates nearly $600 million in sales yearly, is a dominant property once more in an industry it helped to define. ☛ a café. By contrast, the typical suburban shopping center of the time had an outward orientation. Southdale, which at- tracted some 75,000 visi- tors on opening day, also featured a small petting zoo, a children's playroom, a carousel and an auditorium for community meetings. It housed small-town services as well, including a barber- shop, a bank and a post of- fice. "The idea was to have everything under one roof," said Benjamin Martin, the mall's current general man- ager. Simon acquired the mall in 2007, and in its own revitalization efforts has stayed true to Gruen's vi- sion. "We are really diversi- fying the uses we have at the mall in order to appeal to as many people as possible and to allow people to do many things here during their vis- its," Martin said. Simon completed an extensive renovation in 2012, though the project retained much of South- dale's original layout and some of its original art- work and exterior. The firm has also improved the tenant mix with the addition of leading spe- cialty retailers, new res- t a u r a n t s a n d a D a ve & B u s t e r ' s . A H e n n e p i n C o u n t y s e r v i c e c e n t e r opened there in May. Last year marked the grand opening of One South- dale Place, a collection of upscale apartment buildings that Simon co-developed within a short walk of the mall. The company is now co-developing a 146-room Homewood Suites by Hilton on the site of the mall. Southdale is undergo- ing rebirth at a time when the surrounding area is once again enjoying popu- lation growth and a boom in residential construction. This year the Census Bu- reau reported that Edina, an inner-ring suburb of Minneapolis, was one of seven cities that crossed t h e 5 0 , 0 0 0 - p o p u l a t i o n mark for the first time be- tween 2014 and 2015. 42 S C T / A u g u s t 2 0 1 6