Landmark Mall Redevelopment: Residents Hopeful

More than 200 people crowded into the community room at Landmark Mall on Monday night to hear how the Howard Hughes Corp. plans to redevelop the central portion of the mall into seven blocks in an urban town center with retail, restaurants and residential space.

Howard Hughes, Sears and Macy’s each own about a third of the mall and parking lots. The redevelopment plans would affect only what Howard Hughes owns, and Sears and Macy’s would become stand-alone stores connected by a pedestrian walkway through the street blocks.

John Simon, Howard Hughes executive vice president of strategic planning, said Monday the company’s plans call for the central portion of the mall to be demolished and replaced by seven small blocks of mixed-use development. The new development would include about 280,000 square feet of retail space and 370,000 square feet of apartments above the retail.

The front of the mall would feature restaurants on the ground level, set off by a plaza, and an upscale cinema on the upper level.

“This is not a multiplex, typical theater,” Simon said. “You may have been exposed to theaters that you sit down, you can have a meal while you’re watching the movie. They serve you bad wine, you know, and you’re drinking wine at a movie, so it’s good. We’re talking to a few operators that are doing that. All of them have interest here.”

Also, the parking lot would be better lit, cleaner and feature escalators to move people to and from the upper level.

Sears and Macy’s must approve of the final plans, Simon said. The two department stores would be connected by a pedestrian walkway running east to west through the retail and residential parcels.

“We really can’t achieve this plan without the cooperation of Sears and Macy’s, who, by the way, want to cooperate, and they are working with us,” he said.

There’s also the chance of adding a hotel or office building on the western side of the property. Simon said the company hopes to have site plan and zoning approval in June and begin demolition in spring 2014. The new development could open as soon as spring 2016.

Simon said he could not yet say what would happen to the T.C. Williams Satellite Campus currently located on the ground level of the mall. In response to a concern from a resident, Simon added that plenty of parking space would remain on the property.

Sears and Macy’s will likely ask Howard Hughes to refurbish the entrances and exteriors of their properties, he said.

There are also no plans to bring a Wegmans grocery store to the development, as rumors have it, Simon said.

Rich Baier, director of the city’s Department of Transportation and Environmental Services, told residents the city hopes to have a transit center on the redeveloped site.

Landmark Mall, which opened in 1965, was originally open-air but was enclosed in 1990. Seven years ago, the mall owner at the time, General Growth Properties, announced redevelopment plans. Those weren’t realized, Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille said Monday, because the company failed to work with the city.

Mall ownership was transferred to Howard Hughes in 2009. “We have a new owner, and they're committed to make things work,” Euille said.

Residents appeared hopeful about the plans laid out Monday. “I found it very interesting,” said West End resident Douglas Austin. “I was pleased that there’s going to be more restaurants, and the theater project, I think, is an excellent idea.

“I think it’s a great thing to have,” said James Brown, who has lived in the West End since 1950. “First of all, the West End, as far as the whole city of Alexandria, the West End has been left out, as far as the city stuff. But this mall, one of the oldest malls here in the city of Alexandria, needs great improvement, and the whole thing, with transportation and transportation center, and apartments, stuff like that, will be a great improvement.”