The Mall at 163rd Street

The mall's east entrance
Location	North Miami Beach, Florida  United States
Coordinates	25°55′39″N 80°10′24″W / 25.927418°N 80.173298°W / 25.927418; -80.173298Coordinates: 25°55′39″N 80°10′24″W / 25.927418°N 80.173298°W / 25.927418; -80.173298
Address	1421 Northeast 163rd Street
Opening date	November 1, 1956
Developer	Food Fair Properties
Owner	Centro Properties Group
Architect	Gamble, Pownall and Gilroy, Architects
No. of stores and services	50+
No. of anchor tenants	5
Total retail floor area	500,000 square feet (46,000 m2)
Parking	Parking lot
No. of floors	3
Website	Property website

The Mall at 163rd Street is an enclosed shopping mall and power center located in North Miami Beach, Florida. From its opening as an open-air shopping center in 1956, it has been reconfigured into an enclosed mall, but was eventually redeveloped as a combination of both formats. The mall's anchors are The Home Depot, Marshalls, Office Depot, Ross, and Wal-Mart Supercenter.

[edit] History

The mall was originally called The 163rd Street Shopping Center, with Burdines, Richard's, and J.C. Penney as its original anchor stores. Additionally, there was a Woolworth, Food Fair (later Pantry Pride), and Walgreens. The center's stores were arranged around a long, wide, outdoor main plaza. There was a separate section with a Rhodes Furniture and two movie theaters. By 1961 a movie theater was completed as an outparcel. In 1971, Jordan Marsh opened a three story department store at the center's east extremity.

Until the late 1970s, the 163rd Street Center sported countless kiddie rides encircled by a train track, all fronting Burdines in the center court.

"The Dome", the mall's interior enclosed by Teflon fabric over curved arches

From 1980 to 1982, the mall was converted from an open-air shopping center to a climate-controlled enclosed mall. This was accomplished by erecting large metal arches over the main plaza, and then placing a white, translucent, Teflon-coated fabric over them. The mall's concrete sidewalks were also regraded and tiled to accommodate an indoor atmosphere. The Richard's space (which closed chain-wide in 1980) was renovated into a three-level atrium, the upper level of which became a food court and video arcade. It was at this time the mall was rebranded to its current name, however the mall's transformation was often called The Miracle on 163rd Street.

When the Aventura Mall opened in 1983, J.C. Penney moved to the new mall, in effect closing its 163rd Mall store. Unable to lure a replacement anchor, the Penney's space was divided into six specialty store spaces, while the basement became an Oshman's sporting goods store. Pantry Pride closed in 1984, with Service Merchandise as its replacement, creating a mall entrance that Pantry Pride didn't possess. The third and most significant change involved the food court's closure due to a lack of significant foot traffic. However, it was gradually relocated downstairs to the second floor of the atrium, while the third floor converted to a Marshalls. An extra-long escalator was installed to shuttle shoppers directly up to the third floor Marshalls.

Shortly after the renovation, the mall was used for scenes in the movie Making Mr. Right starring John Malkovich and Ann Magnuson. The majority of the filming took place overnight after the Mall was closed. The interior of the Baron's Mens Store was used for scenes where the android, Ulysses buys a tuxedo.

The decline of the mall began in 1991 when Jordan Marsh closed. Although a Mervyns department store took over the lower two floors of the three story structure, it closed in 1995. The biggest hit however took place in 1999, when Burdines closed and relocated to the Aventura Mall. During this time, the surrounding neighborhood had experienced a demographic change as the more affluent population moved northward. Increases in crime led the mall to build a fence around the property. Vacancies increased throughout the late 1990s, leaving only Marshalls and a few smaller inline stores.

The conversion of the mall to a power center began in 1996, when the outparcel section with the movie theater was demolished and replaced with The Home Depot. A major change to the enclosed mall itself occurred in October, 2003, when the Jordan Marsh building, its adjoining parking structure, and about ⅓ of the mall was demolished and replaced with a Wal-Mart Supercenter that opened in September, 2005. The remaining mall was reworked to include big-box stores, including Office Depot and Ross. Steve & Barry's opened on the upper level of the former Burdines in 2007, but closed in 2009 after a nationwide liquidation.

[edit] Anchors

• The Home Depot (opened in 1996 on the site of the former cinema)
• Marshalls (opened in 1990 in the former upper level food court)
• Office Depot (opened in 2005 in former mall space)
• Ross (opened in 2005 in a section of the renovated Burdines)
• Wal-Mart Supercenter (opened in 2005 on the site of the Mervyns wing)

[edit] Former Anchors

• Burdines (opened in 1956, closed in 1999; space renovated for Ross and Steve & Barry's)
• J.C. Penney (opened in 1956, closed in 1983; converted to mall space and Oshman's)
• Jordan Marsh (opened in 1971, closed in 1991; lower two levels became Mervyns)
• Mervyn's (opened in 1993, closed in 1995; demolished for Wal-Mart Supercenter)
• Food Fair (opened in 1956, closed in 1984; eventually rebranded to Pantry Pride, became Service Merchandise with a mall entrance)
• Richard's (opened in 1956, closed 1980, converted to mall space)
• Service Merchandise (opened in 1984; closed in 2001)
• Woolworth (opened in 1956; closed 1997)
• Steve & Barry's (opened in 2007, closed in 2009)

[edit] External links

• Mall at 163rd Street property website
• Deadmalls.com feature