| Location | Southfield, Michigan, USA |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1954 |
| Developer | J.L. Hudson Company |
| Management | Jones Lang LaSalle |
| No. of stores and services | 110 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 (2 operating, 3 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 2,000,000 sq ft (190,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 plus partial basement, 2 in former JCPenney, 4 in Macy's |
| Website | http://www.shopatnorthland.com |
Northland Center is a shopping mall located at the intersection of Northwestern Highway and Greenfield Road and 8 Mile Road in Southfield, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Construction began in 1952 and the mall opened on March 22, 1954.
Northland was a milestone for regional shopping centers in the postwar United States. Designed by Victor Gruen, the mall initially included a four-level Hudson's with a ring of stores surrounding it. The mall was enclosed in the 1970s and expanded several times in its history. Managed by Jones Lang LaSalle since 2008, Northland Center features approximately 100 tenants, including Macy's and Target as anchor stores, as well as three vacant anchors last occupied by TJ Maxx, JCPenney and National Wholesale Liquidators.
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The Northland Center shopping center was built by J. L. Hudson Company, a major retail department store based in Detroit that went on to become the second largest department store (next to Macy's of New York City) in the United States. In 1948, Hudson's was reluctant to build branch stores, but architect Victor Gruen convinced its management to take advantage of suburban growth by building a ring of three shopping centers on Detroit's outskirts. Of the others - Eastland Center and Westland Center - Northland was the first to be built. It was the world's largest shopping center. [1]
Northland Center was the first major postwar development in suburban Detroit and was the first of many forays into the suburbs by Hudson's. Some $30,000,000 was invested in constructing the facility. The first-year gross for the Northland Hudson's was $88,000,000.[1]
Hudson's merged with Dayton's of Minneapolis to form the Dayton-Hudson Corporation (now Target Corporation), was re-branded as Marshall Field's in 2001 and renamed Macy's on September 9, 2006 after Marshall Field's then-parent company May Department Stores was acquired by Federated. The loss of Hudson's was a major blow to the prestige of Detroit.
Designed by Victor Gruen, the shopping center opened to much fanfare. Articles about the center appeared in national media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Time, Look, Life, Ladies Home Journal and Newsweek. All heralded that the concept represented the future of shopping in post-war America. Besides Hudson's, Northland opened with a number of other local retailers including: Hughes & Hatcher, Barna-Bee Children's Shops, Cunningham's Drugs, Baker's Shoes, Chandler's Shoes, Big Boy restaurant, Himelhoch's, Winkelman's, Kresge, Robinson Furniture, Better Made Potato Chips, Kroger, and Sanders and a supermarket in the two-million-square-foot center. Northland featured auditoriums, a bank, post office, infirmary, sculptures, fountains, an office for lost children, lavish landscaping, and free gasoline for customers who had run out.
Gruen would later grow disenchanted with the malls he helped start with Northland. The architect, who also designed suburban Detroit's Eastland Center, Chicago's Randhurst and South Jersey's Cherry Hill Mall, pronounced himself disillusioned with the ugliness and fast-buck approach of many projects. "I refuse to pay alimony for those bastard developments", he told Time magazine.[2]
Northland Center was enclosed as a mall in 1974[2], the same year that JCPenney and Montgomery Ward were added. Later additions included Federated's short-lived MainStreet chain (later Kohl's), as well as TJ Maxx, and Target. In 1991, a food court was added[2]. Despite the additions, Northland has suffered a natural decline as its buildings aged. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, major tenants vacated their operations, as did several of the anchor stores. Kohl's and Montgomery Ward both closed in the mid 1990s, JCPenney closed in 2000, and TJ Maxx closed in 2004. Beginning in 2000, only $100.00 was invested in revitalization of the area by GP Northland II, a New Jersey-based partnership, which took control of operations that year.
Northland's current operations include two anchor department stores, listed below. In addition, the mall features over 100 retailers, a food court with seven restaurants, and a small outdoor court. The mall's anchor stores are Macy's and Target, with the former TJ Maxx, National Wholesale Liquidators and JCPenney anchors remaining vacant.
Northland Center was sold on December 18th, 2008 to Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., with Jones Lang LaSalle (which also owns Eastland Center in Harper Woods).[3]
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Coordinates: 42°27′4.2″N 83°12′16.8″W / 42.451167°N 83.204667°W
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