Arborland was Ann Arbor's first suburban mall, opened in the early 1960s. The original Arborland featured JCPenney,[2]Kresge, Kroger, and Montgomery Ward among its anchor stores. In 1973, the larger Briarwood Mall opened, and JCPenney moved to a newer store there. Competition from Briarwood caused Arborland to lose tenants throughout the end of the 1970s.[3][4] E.N. Maisel & Associates purchased the mall in 1980 and enclosed its formerly open-air concourses, while replacing the vacated JCPenney store with Crowley's.[5] Despite these additions, the mall continued to lose tenants, including Montgomery Ward, Sibley's Shoes, and Pearle Vision in early 1983.[6]
In the late 1990s Freed and Associates purchased it on the cheap and razed most of the structure, transforming it into a big box cluster. Toys "R" Us was rebuilt during the "de-malling" of the center, while Marshalls and the former F&M building (now occupied by OfficeMax) were retained. Freed's purchase price was around $6 million; within a decade, in 2005, Freed was said to be seeking a buyer for over $100 million.[4] Freed did shortly find a buyer for the 409,000 sq ft (38,000 m2) center. The facility was purchased by AmCap, through a joint venture with Los Angeles-based Hart Realty Advisers for a reported $102 million.[9]
