Fox Valley Mall

Fox Valley Mall

View from Southwest parking lot
Location Aurora, Illinois, USA
Coordinates 41°45′30″N 88°12′45″W / 41.7583628°N 88.2125683°W / 41.7583628; -88.2125683Coordinates: 41°45′30″N 88°12′45″W / 41.7583628°N 88.2125683°W / 41.7583628; -88.2125683
Address 195 Fox Valley Center
Aurora, IL 60504
Opening date 1975
Developer Metropolitan Structures, Inc./ Westbrook Venture
Management Centennial Real Estate
Owner Centennial Real Estate
Montgomery Street Partners
USAA Real Estate
Westfield Group
No. of stores and services 150
No. of anchor tenants 4
Total retail floor area 1,404,987 square feet (130,527.6 m2) [1]
No. of floors 2
Website www.shopfoxvalleymall.com

Fox Valley Mall, formerly Westfield Fox Valley, is a shopping mall in Aurora, Illinois. Its four anchor stores are Carson Pirie Scott, JCPenney, Macy's and Sears.

Its original anchors included Lord & Taylor, which closed in 1996 and sold its store to Carson Pirie Scott. The Marshall Field's store was renamed Macy's on September 9, 2006.

The Westfield Group acquired the shopping center in early 2002, and renamed it "Westfield Shoppingtown Fox Valley", dropping the "Shoppingtown" name in June 2005.

Westfield Group sold 80% interest in mall as of December 2015.[2]

Major anchors

Former anchors

History

Original Logo of the Fox Valley Center Mall—changed when it became Westfield Fox Valley

Original planning was started in 1968 by Urban Investment and Development Company; a prototype called Environ 2000. The first plans had 640 acres (2.6 km2) for development as a planned community to help minimize suburban sprawl.

When construction was ready to start in June 1973, the planned unit development was 4,220 acres (17.1 km2) of land between Naperville and Aurora. Fox Valley Center and Villages developers were Metropolitan Structures, Inc., and Westbrook Venture.

The Fox Valley Mall is a 1,500,000-square-foot (140,000 m2) enclosed mall, opened and completed in 1975. Sears and Marshall Field's opened first, followed by JCPenney, Lord & Taylor (now Carson Pirie Scott) and 150 other shops and services.[4]

This was later followed by marketing for home builders and office development in the area marketed as Fox Valley Villages.

Sales at the mall were stated at $115 million in 1977.[5]

Before the mid 2000s, the mall had large gardens and plants spread throughout. [6] [7] They were all removed from the mall shortly after Westfield's purchase.

After Westfield's purchase of the mall, all the signs and usage of the Fox Valley Center logo was discontinued and replaced with Westfield's standard mall brand logo, with the shortened Fox Valley name. In the same time period there was an extensive renovation of the mall for the first time in its history. Ironically, after Centennial Real Estate's purchase of 80% interest in the mall, all "Westfield" signs were replaced with "Fox Valley Mall" signs. [8]

Fox Valley nomenclature

The mall itself sits on the stretch of Illinois Route 59 between U.S. 34 and East New York Street / West Aurora Avenue, with 8,006 car parking spaces.[9] The area around the mall, mostly the stretch of IL 59 between U.S. 34 to the south and Diehl Road to the north, has been developed on the east and west sides of the road. The area is highly developed, with such stores as Sam's Club, Meijer, H H Gregg, Target, Guitar Center, Petsmart, and many other retailers, along with many other well-known restaurants.

Gallery

References

  1. http://www.westfieldcorp.com/centre/westfield-fox-valley/
  2. http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/news/ct-abn-aurora-foxvalley-st-1222-20151221-story.html
  3. Fox Valley Mall - directory various years prior to Westfield ownership 'information on occupants'
  4. The DuPage Magazine, October 1978, pages 14-16 ' background on the construction of Fox Valley Mall'
  5. The DuPage Magazine, October 1978, page 17 ' early sales figure'
  6. https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrstitustrout/21199388634
  7. http://www.flickriver.com/photos/laflindesigngroup/popular-interesting/
  8. http://www.shopfoxvalleymall.com/
  9. "Westfield Fox Valley: Key Features". Westfield Group. Retrieved 18 January 2013.

External links

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