Iconic Shopping Mall in Phoenix Will Be Redeveloped as Mixed-Use Project

According to Street Scout, Park Central, which was the first shopping mall in midtown Phoenix, will be converted into a nine-story 450,000-square-foot complex that will include Creighton University's medical school, apartments, and an arts center. Future plans include more residential buildings a hotel and senior housing "Park Central was the perfect property to redevelop in central Phoenix, but for many years none of us could figure out how to make it happen," said Sharon Harper, CEO of Plaza Cos. "It wasn't easy, but we have had a lot of support from the city and neighbors."

Park Central opened in 1957 on 57 acres that had been home to a dairy farm. In the 1970s and 80s, the mall was home to major department stores including Goldwaters, Diamond's and Dillard's. But the exodus of homeowners to Valley suburbs and companies to Phoenix's Camelback Corridor and farther out drained midtown of residents and employers. By the late 1990s, the last department store had closed.

Those stores, or at least their names, will be part of the redevelopment. Buildings will be named after some the families associated with the mall. "This project is a prime example of how we can repurpose old properties and modernize them without starting over from scratch," said Bob Goldwater, whose family owned the former Goldwaters department stores.

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