Steeplegate Mall

Steeplegate Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Concord, New Hampshire, United States. Opened in 1990, it has struggled with high vacancy rates throughout its existence.[1] Its largest retailer is JCPenney, the only traditional store left alongside Talbots and Chico's.[2] It also features a live theater that opened in 2016, a trampoline park that opened in 2018,[3][4] and a health club that opened in 2019.[5] A charter school operated in a former Bon-Ton store from 2018 to 2020.[6]

Steeplegate Mall
Steeplegate Mall's clock tower and main entrance leading to the food court.
LocationConcord, New Hampshire, United States
Address270 Loudon Road
Opening dateAugust 1, 1990 (1990-08-01Tmdy)
DeveloperHomart Development Company
ManagementColliers Properties
OwnerNamdar Realty Group
No. of stores and services6 (open), 60 (spaces)
No. of anchor tenants1 store and 2 non-traditional anchors
Total retail floor area480,000 square feet (45,000 m2)
No. of floors1

The mall opened with four large retail anchor stores, a food court with a 630-square-foot (59 m2) mosaic,[7] and room for about 62 storefronts, depending on layout. As of the interior's closure on April 22, 2022, only six businesses with exterior entrances are open, as the mall's current owners evicted all the remaining interior-only businesses earlier that year for a potential overhaul.[2]

History

The 480,000-square-foot mall opened August 1, 1990, with Sears, JCPenney, Sage-Allen and Steinbach as its anchors. It was built by Homart Development Company.[8]

Steinbach closed its store in 1999 as part of the company's bankruptcy. Sage-Allen became The Bon-Ton in 1999,[9] with a second Bon-Ton and Circuit City splitting the former Steinbach. Circuit City liquidated and closed in 2009.

Decline

In 2011, General Growth Properties, the successor company to Homart, transferred ownership of the mall, along with 29 other underperforming malls, to its Rouse Properties subsidiary.[10] In August 2014, Rouse Properties announced that it had defaulted on its loan for Steeplegate Mall and was in the process of turning over the property to its lenders.[11] By April 2015 the property was owned by a consortium of lenders including Wells Fargo Bank and Midland Loan Servicing and managed by Colliers International.[12]

In January 2015, Old Navy, one of four main anchors at the mall, closed its doors.[13]

In May 2016, Steeplegate Mall was bought by the New York-based Namdar Realty Group for $10.4 million.[14]

As part of an attempt to diversify from traditional retail and food stores, Hatbox Theater, a live theater venue located in the former Coldwater Creek and using the adjoining former Radio Shack space for storage and rehearsals, opened in 2016.[15] Similarly, VIP Bounce Houses and Laser Tag opened in the former Old Navy location that year.[16]

In April 2018, Bon-Ton closed both of its stores as part of a plan to close 42 stores nationwide.[17] Later that same year, a charter school called Capital City Charter School moved into the former Bon-Ton men's clothing and houseware store,[3][18] although it closed in 2021,[6] while an Altitude Trampoline Park franchise opened within the former Circuit City space in November.[4][19]

In 2019, a health club called The Zoo opened a franchise in the former Bon-Ton women's and children's store, marking the first time since Circuit City's closure that all five anchors in the mall had an active permanent tenant.[5] In 2019, one of the mall's oldest tenants, a confectionery called True Confections Candies & Gifts, moved out of the mall, citing declining foot traffic and the mall owners' unwillingness to lower rent rates.[20]

On February 6, 2020, Sears closed the Steeplegate store as part of closing 96 stores nationwide, which left JCPenney as the only traditional anchor.[21] The former Sears store was used as a state vaccination site during the COVID-19 pandemic.[22]

Mall interior closes for overhaul

In February 2022, the mall's owners told the five remaining businesses that were only accessible from inside the mall to vacate their spaces by March 2022 for upcoming unspecified changes to the mall's interior.[23] The same month, the owners also told the Hatbox Theatre, which only had an exterior entrance, that it had until March 13 to vacate the spaces it used.[15] However, the owners renounced their demands shortly afterward and allowed the theater to stay, although Hatbox was no longer permitted to use the adjoining former Radio Shack space.[24] By April 2022, all of the last five interior-only businesses vacated the mall; four of them moved to other locations—three to elsewhere in Concord and one to Hooksett—while the fifth decided to close permanently.[25] On April 22, the mall closed its interior to visitors, leaving only the six remaining businesses with exterior entrances—JCPenney, Talbots, Chico's, Hatbox Theatre, The Zoo Health Club, and Altitude Trampoline Park.[2]

  • Steeplegate JCPenney exterior
  • Steeplegate Sears exterior as it appeared in July 2017
  • The mall's previous logo
  • The mall's east end on July 31, 2021; all businesses and other tenants were permanently closed.
  • The mall's food court on July 31, 2021, with no tenants. Tables and chairs were removed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

References
  1. Townsend, Matt (November 21, 2014). "A Dying Mall in Concord, New Hampshire". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on February 20, 2015.
  2. Duckler, Ray (April 23, 2022). "Once upon a time, the Steeplegate Mall changed lives". Concord Monitor. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  3. Willingham, Leah (September 5, 2018). "In a former department store, Capital City Charter School opens to students". Concord Monitor.
  4. Andrews, Caitlin (November 22, 2018). "In Concord, a changing mall heads into holiday shopping season". Concord Monitor. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  5. Andrews, Caitlin (March 27, 2019). "The Zoo gym coming to Concord's Steeplegate Mall". Concord Monitor. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  6. Brooks, David (February 9, 2021). "School in Steeplegate Mall surrenders its charter". Concord Monitor. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  7. "IN CONCORD, A NEW MALL AND HIGH HOPES". The Boston Globe. 1990-08-05. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
  8. "CONCORD HEIGHTS TO GET MALL AUG. 1". The Boston Globe. 1990-07-08. Archived from the original on 2016-10-18.
  9. http://retailtrafficmag.com/mag/retail_new_england_region/
  10. Doyle, Megan (August 20, 2014). "Hopeful for a new owner, local businesses stick to Steeplegate Mall". Concord Monitor.
  11. Doyle, Megan (August 4, 2014). "Owner defaults on loan for Steeplegate Mall". Concord Monitor.
  12. Steeplegate Mall transfer is now official Megan Doyle, Concord Monitor, April 7, 2015
  13. Palermo, Sarah (January 9, 2015). "Old Navy at the Steeplegate Mall closing at the end of January". Concord Monitor.
  14. Brooks, David (June 6, 2016). "Steeplegate Mall sold for $10.3 million". Concord Monitor. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  15. Brooks, David (February 14, 2022). "Hatbox Theatre told to leave Steeplegate Mall in 30 days". Concord Monitor. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  16. Brooks, David (March 28, 2016). "Live Theater Opens at Mall". Concord Monitor.
  17. Brooks, David (February 1, 2018). "Bon-Ton to close its stores in Steeplegate Mall". Concord Monitor.
  18. Willingham, Leah (July 29, 2018). "Charter School in old Bon Ton store to pen this fall". Concord Monitor. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  19. Andrews, Caitlin (May 24, 2018). "Update: New life for Steeplegate with addition of trampoline park, possibly new charter school". Concord Monitor. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  20. Andrews, Caitlin (May 3, 2019). "Mall loyalist True Confections to depart by month's end". Concord Monitor. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  21. Brooks, David (November 7, 2019). "Sears in Concord to shut as the company closes yet more stores nationwide". Concord Monitor. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  22. Rosenbluth, Teddy (April 2, 2021). "Some wait outside for hours to get their vaccines in Concord". Concord Monitor. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  23. Brooks, David; Jensen, Cassidy (February 16, 2022). "Steeplegate Mall tells all interior stores to leave to prepare for unspecified changes". Concord Monitor. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  24. Brooks, David (February 15, 2022). "Steeplegate Mall tells all interior stores to leave to prepare for unspecified changes". Concord Monitor. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  25. Jensen, Cassidy (April 17, 2022). "Former Steeplegate businesses open elsewhere in Concord". Concord Monitor. Retrieved April 22, 2022.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.