One-Time Popular Phoenix Shopping Mall May See Significant Redevelopment

Preliminary plans are in the works for the redevelopment of the big Paradise Valley Mall in northeastern Phoenix.

Located at 4568 E. Cactus Road, the mall was opened in 1978 and significantly expanded in the late 1980s to produce a total store footprint of 1.2 million square feet.

But in the last decade, the mall has declined due to the exit of several large tenants. Sears, which had a 125,000 square foot store at the mall, closed nearly two years ago, while Dillard’s, leasing some 200,000 square feet at Paradise Valley, said it was leaving late last year.

Now, in renderings submitted to the City of Phoenix, the Santa Monica-based real estate investment company Macerich, which owns the mall, has presented a series of ideas that would see a repurposing of the facility, turning it into an upper scale mixed-use development.

“The redevelopment will create additional interest, life and economic vitality that will benefit the mall, adjacent properties, and the city,” a document submitted by the company states in asking the city for a rezoning of the 77-acre property.

Initial ideas for the property include multi-level residential housing, up to 45,000 square feet of grocery store space, and an additional 7,000 square feet of retail space.

The redevelopment could also include a swimming pool.
​
While plans for the redevelopment of the mall continue to work their way through the city approval process, an exact work timetable for the project has not yet been announced.

​By Garry Boulard

---