Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/803877
26 S C T / A P R I L 2 0 1 7 D E V E L O P M E N T D I G E S T F R O M R E N D E R I N G TO G R A N D O P E N I N G Suburban Square undertakes a major redevelopment as it prepares to celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2018 By Ben Johnson O ne of America's oldest shopping centers is getting a much needed $70 million renovation that its owner hopes will restore the luster of its early-1900s heyday. First opened in 1928, the 358,000-square-foot Suburban Square is an open-air mall located in Ardmore, Pa., about 5 miles northwest of Philadelphia, in an area known locally as the Main Line. This tony stretch of suburbia runs roughly parallel to the Pennsylvania Railroad's Main Line, which helped spawn some of the state's wealthiest neighborhoods. Suburban Square was home to the first branch department store based in a shopping center, Strawbridge & Clothier, which opened there in 1930. The store was converted to a Macy's in 2006, and then Macy's left in April 2016, during a wave of national store closures. Kimco Realty Corp. purchased Suburban Square in 2007 and is now in the midst of a three-phase redevelopment aimed at restoring the center to its former glory. "When you have a center that is 90 years old, part of what makes it successful, and continually successful, through the years is being able Community center