Roosevelt Field (shopping Mall) - History

History

As an airfield, the land served as the take-off site of many famous aviators such as Amelia Earhart and Wiley Post. Charles Lindbergh's solo translatlantic flight took off from Roosevelt Field in 1927. The field was originally named Hazelhurst Field and was renamed in honor of Theodore Roosevelt's son Quentin, who died in World War I. After the airfield was closed in 1951, the site was developed by New York's William Zeckendorf and designed by I.M. Pei.

Ground was broken on the $35 million project in April 1955. The center opened with a single level and was an open-air center. It included F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10 store, Walgreen Drug, Food Fair supermarket, Buster Brown Shoes, a public auditorium, movie theater, and an outdoor ice rink. The original anchor of the mall was a 2-level 343,000 ft² (31,900 m²) Macy's which opened on August 22, 1956.

In 1962, a 250,000 ft² (2,320 m²) Gimbels store opened (today, the structure houses Dick's Sporting Goods and Bloomingdale's Furniture). With the addition, the complex held over 1,000,000 ft² (92,900 m²). A major extension was completed in 1964. Macy's had a 85,000 ft² (7,900 m²) third level added. In 1968, The Century Roosevelt Cinema began operation. At that time, the mall was enclosed.

In 1972, a second major expansion was completed which added a 3-level, 260,000 ft² (24,200 m²) J.C. Penney,which was later completely renovated in 2010, and a 2-level 31,400 ft² (2,900 m²) Alexander's. La Petite Mall, a Tudor-style expansion was built in 1974 that architecturally reinforced the novelty of shopping indoors.

An upper level of stores and food court was established in 1993 after a major renovation which started in 1991. When Alexander's went bankrupt in 1992, Abraham & Straus gutted the building and extensively renovated it, opening in 1992. The Abraham & Straus location at Roosevelt Field only lasted until 1995, when the chain became defunct. The store was slightly renovated, and re-opened as a Bloomingdale's in 1998. The Bloomingdale's store at Roosevelt Field had a major renovation, which was finished by the summer of 2009. The Gimbels anchor was a Stern's between 1987 and 2001.

After Stern's closed, the spot was taken over by Galyan's, which opened in 2003 (later bought out by Dick's Sporting Goods in 2004). Dick's Sporting Goods occupied the eastern section and Bloomingdale's Furniture Gallery, which opened in 2004 and occupies the western half. A new, 3-story Nordstrom and a 2-story wing leading to the new Nordstrom opened in August 1997. Simon Property Group took ownership of the mall when they had acquired Corporate Property Investors in 1998.

In March 2012, it was announced that a new 100,000-square-foot building anchored by luxury department store Neiman Marcus will be added to Roosevelt Field. Estimated to be completed in 2015, this expansion will create room for even more shops leading up to the luxury department store, and will also be accompanied by a new parking structure, according to the mall's owner and developer, Simon Property Group. “Neiman Marcus will be an impressive complement to our existing roster of more than 270 retailers and will further enhance our ability to provide shoppers with the highest quality and selection of goods that they have come to expect and enjoy at Roosevelt Field," David Simon, chairman and chief executive of Simon Property Group, said in a statement.

This expansion will also feature construction of a new food pavilion with enhanced dining options and outdoor seating that will replace the existing food court. New restaurants including Havana Central will be built around the mall's property. Skinny Pizza, The Capital Grille, and Seasons 52 have since opened.

The expansion will be privately funded and will not involve any taxpayer money, according to Richard Sokolov, president and chief operating officer of Simon Property Group.