Arborland Center

42°15′21.8″N 83°41′15.2″W / 42.256056°N 83.687556°W / 42.256056; -83.687556Opening date1961, redeveloped 1999DeveloperTaubman Centers (original mall)
Simon Property Group (1980s mall)OwnerBrixmor Property GroupNo. of stores and services26No. of anchor tenants7Total retail floor area406,736 sq ft (37,787.0 m²)No. of floors1Public transit access AAATA 4, 24, 66

Arborland Center is a shopping center located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Opened in 1961 as an unenclosed shopping mall, the center was redeveloped as a power center in 1998.^[1] Current anchor stores include Marshalls, Petco, Kroger, Ulta, Old Navy, Gardner-White Furniture (that used to be a Toys "R" Us), and Bed Bath & Beyond.

History

Arborland was Ann Arbor's first suburban mall, opened in the early 1960s. The original Arborland featured JCPenney,^[2] Kresge, Kroger, and Montgomery Ward among its anchor stores. In 1973, the larger Briarwood Mall opened, and JCPenney moved to a newer store there. Competition from Briarwood caused Arborland to lose tenants throughout the end of the 1970s.^[3][4] E.N. Maisel & Associates purchased the mall in 1980 and enclosed its formerly open-air concourses, while replacing the vacated JCPenney store with Crowley's.^[5] Despite these additions, the mall continued to lose tenants, including Montgomery Ward, Sibley's Shoes, and Pearle Vision in early 1983.^[6]

Melvin Simon & Associates (now Simon Property Group) began renovations on converting the mall to discount and outlet stores in 1983,^[7] which necessitated closing of the Crowley's store as it was incompatible with the discount format.^[6] At the time of Simon's purchase, the center had only 13 tenants.^[8] Simon attracted over 45 new stores, including new anchor stores Burlington Coat Factory, Service Merchandise, F&M, Toys "R" Us, and Marshalls, along with a food court.^[3]

In the late 1990s Freed and Associates purchased it on the cheap and razed most of the structure, transforming it into a big box cluster. Toys "R" Us was rebuilt during the "de-malling" of the center, while Marshalls and the former F&M building (now occupied by OfficeMax) were retained. Freed's purchase price was around $6 million; within a decade, in 2005, Freed was said to be seeking a buyer for over $100 million.^[4] Freed did shortly find a buyer for the 409,000 sq ft (38,000 m²) center. The facility was purchased by AmCap, through a joint venture with Los Angeles-based Hart Realty Advisers for a reported $102 million.^[9]

The Borders in Arborland closed in April 2011.^[10][11] A year later, its space was split between Five Below and Ulta.^[12] Nordstrom Rack was confirmed in 2013 for a space vacated by Circuit City in 2009.^[13]

References