EVERETT – Everett Mall’s new owner says it will bring in such big names in retailing as Old Navy and Best Buy, build a 16-screen movie theater and improve the shopping center’s look.
California-based Steadfast Cos. unveiled the expansion and renovation plan Thursday, ending years of delay for the mall’s revitalization. The two-year project is expected to cost $30 million or more.
“I’ve waited a really long time to put this hat on,” said Linda Johannes, Everett Mall’s general manager, as she donned a hard hat for the ceremonial groundbreaking. “Doesn’t it look good?”
Demolition of a vacant movie theater on W. Mall Drive and another nearby building is complete. Construction on Best Buy’s 30,000-square-foot building could start in December, said Patrick Cox, partner and vice president of Steadfast’s commercial property division.
He called the project an “extreme makeover” for the 30-year-old shopping center.
Best Buy will rise on the former location of Everett Mall Village, a strip mall torn down two years ago. There will also be a Bed Bath &Beyond store, a PetsMart and a few smaller retail spaces. Collectively, the 100,000-square-foot addition will be called The Village.
“These are the retail giants,” Cox said, adding that the addition’s first stores could open late in 2005. “This will jump start the property big time.”
To allow easier access to The Village from the mall’s parking lot, W. Mall Drive will be rerouted to the back side of the buildings.
Inside the existing mall, Old Navy and Borders Books &Music are to become “junior anchor” stores – leasing more space than the average small store but not as much as Bon-Macy’s, Sears and Mervyn’s.
James Martin del Campo, Steadfast’s director of leasing, added that shoppers can expect other changes as well in the mall’s roster of approximately 120 stores and restaurants. The goal is to create an attractive mix of local businesses and national chain stores.
The first wave of new tenants are likely to open in the mall by mid-2005, with more opening in 2006, del Campo said.
The final addition will be the 16-screen, 2,900-seat movie theater. It will replace a three-screen theater on the mall’s south side. The theater will continue to be operated by Regal Entertainment Group, which hasn’t announced whether it would then abandon the nearby Everett 9 cinemas it operates.
Renovated entrances and a new front facade for the main mall also are planned, according to Steadfast. The general contractor for the work is Bellevue-based S.D. Deacon Corp.
Since buying the mall for $50 million on June 8, Steadfast hasn’t waited to begin sprucing it up. In recent weeks, the mall’s roof has been redone and workers have upgraded the electrical system.
Parking areas have been repaved and additional light fixtures have been installed. This week, workers began putting in more landscaping, and new entrance signs for the mall are scheduled to arrive next week, Johannes said.
The flurry of work comes after the mall’s two previous owners delayed upgrades and planned expansions for several years. Cox said it’s past time for Everett Mall to catch up in order to compete better.
“A mall has certain life cycles. During those cycles, you have to make certain injections of capital or the mall erodes,” he said.
Some of the 50 or so city officials and business people who attended Thursday morning’s announcement at the mall praised Steadfast for its faith in the mall’s potential. Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson thanked the company for “polishing up this important gem in our community.”
Cox said he doesn’t intend to compete directly with Lynnwood’s recently expanded Alderwood mall, which is now one of the state’s largest. But the 673,000-square-foot Everett Mall can do well by drawing more business from the greater Everett area, he said.
Susan Zimmerman, a retail specialist with GVA Kidder Mathews in Seattle, agreed.
“You still have Marysville and traffic from the north, as well as people in Mukilteo and even Lynnwood who don’t always go to Alderwood,” she said, adding that the mall’s new big-name tenants seem well-chosen.
Paul Sleeth of Colliers International said Steadfast has a good track record with its recent redevelopment of the former SeaTac Mall in Federal Way. As with Everett Mall, the company wasted no time in trying to improve the property’s performance, he said.
Councilwoman Marion Krell said she thinks the improved mall will spur more local spending, which brings the city more sales tax revenue.
“From a shopper’s point of view, I’ll be thrilled when I can do more of my shopping in Everett. We don’t like taking our dollars out of town,” she said.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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