Hampshire Mall

Hampshire Mall
The interior of Hampshire Mall, 2007
Map
LocationHadley, Massachusetts, United States
Coordinates42°21′23″N 72°32′52″W / 42.35639°N 72.54778°W / 42.35639; -72.54778 (Hampshire Mall)
Address367 Russell Street
Opening date1978
DeveloperThe Pyramid Companies
ManagementSpinoso Real Estate Group
OwnerDeutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas
Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage Securities Inc.
No. of stores and servicesapproximately 30
No. of anchor tenants5
Total retail floor area435,000 square feet (40,413 m2)
No. of floors1 with partial upper level
Websitehttps://hampshiremall.com
The ticket stand at the Cinemark movie theater in the Hampshire Mall
The concession stand next at the Cinemark movie theater in the Hampshire Mall. To the left is the walkway that leads to the theaters.
This Target store was built in 2003 and is part of Hampshire Mall

Hampshire Mall is a primarily one-story shopping mall with a small second floor in Hadley, Massachusetts, United States, with approximately 30 stores managed by Spinoso Real Estate Group. Current anchor stores include Dick's Sporting Goods, JCPenney, PetSmart and Target. The mall is home to Interskate 91 North, a roller skating rink on the second floor.[1][2] Attached to the skating rink is LaserBlast: Ancient Adventure (a Lasertag facility that was formerly home to LaserStorm).[3]

History

When the mall opened in 1978 it was anchored by JCPenney, Steiger's and Kmart.

The Steiger's store was demolished in 1994 for Media Play. The Media Play store opened August 10, 1995.[4] Kmart closed in 2002 because of the chain's bankruptcy.[5] In 2003 the former Kmart space was rebuilt and extended to house a Target store. Originally the mall contained a six screen movie theater that existed from 1978 to 1999. This was then expanded to a 12-screen Cinemark movie theater in 2000.[6]

A 45,000 sq ft (4,200 m2) Dick's Sporting Goods store opened in early 2005, replacing a former Eastern Mountain Sports. Best Buy and Steve & Barry's replaced Media Play in early 2005. Steve & Barry's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008 and subsequently closed their Hampshire Mall store in August 2008 and it was replaced by the racetrack.

Walmart developers beginning in 2005 wished to build a new 212,000-square-foot (19,700 m2) Supercenter southeast of Hampshire Mall. However, there have been various hindrances as a consequence of a bylaw designed to keep out large stores by restricting new stores to 75,000 square feet (7,000 m2). After two years of negotiations, on November 20, 2007, a subdivision plan that exempted the planned Walmart Supercenter from the current bylaw restrictions was approved. Developers have eight years to get a site plan approved before the exemption expires.[7] This would almost certainly mean the current store, attached to the east end of Mountain Farms Mall, would close.[8][9][10] [11][12][13]

On June 20, 2024, the mall was sold to Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas and Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage Securities Inc., with Spinoso Real Estate Group managing it.[14]

Road access to the mall

The state of Massachusetts is considering widening Route 9 to two lanes in each direction from Middle Street to the mall area to alleviate frequent traffic jams. This would add to a previous project completed in 2008 that widened Route 9 from the Calvin Coolidge Bridge in Northampton and result in two lanes in each direction from Northampton through Hadley to the Amherst line.[15] This would also enable easier access to Mountain Farms mall and the new Hadley Corner shops.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Interskate 91 North Hadley, MA". Yelp. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  2. ^ Carrol, Sally (2004-02-15). "Nontraditional mall offers enjoyable alternative". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  3. ^ Nance, Scott (1995, June 8). Laser game called high-tech 'hide and seek'. Daily Hampshire Gazette,(1) p. 13. Retrieved December 23, 2007
  4. ^ Yurko, Chris (1994, July 27). Hadley getting store: Media Play will use Steiger's space. Daily Hampshire Gazette,(1) p. 1. Retrieved December 23, 2007
  5. ^ "Kmart store closings". CNN. March 8, 2002.
  6. ^ Kay J Moran (November 9, 2000). "New Hadley mall theaters go high-tech". Daily Hampshire Gazette, p. B1. Retrieved December 23, 2007
  7. ^ [1][dead link‍]
  8. ^ [2][dead link‍]
  9. ^ Merzbach, Scott (2010-08-06). "Dispute spurs Buffalo Wild Wings closure at mall". Amherst Bulletin. Archived from the original on 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  10. ^ Merzbach, Scott (2010-08-03). "Dispute between management, landlord led to Hadley eatery closing". Daily Hampshire Gazette. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  11. ^ "Platterpus Records, after 25 years in Westfield and Hadley, closing doors". The Republican. 2010-03-17. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  12. ^ Kinney, Jim (2010-06-09). "Dave Witthaus to reopen Platterpus Records in Easthampton". The Republican. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  13. ^ Lindhal, Chris (September 16, 2016). "Best Buy to close location at Hampshire Mall in Hadley Oct. 31". gazettenet.com.
  14. ^ Pentland, James. "Hampshire Mall sells for fraction of assessed value at $7M". Daily Hampshire Gazette. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  15. ^ Merzbach, Scott (2010-06-24). "State eyes Route 9 widening project near mall". North Adams Transcript. Retrieved 2010-08-23.