History Westfield Southcenter

1 history

1.1 history , construction: 1956 - 1968
1.2 westfield: 2002 - 2008
1.3 since 2008

history
early history , construction: 1956 - 1968

in 1956, 3 officials northgate shopping center, james douglas, president of northgate co., wells mccurdy, douglas assistant, , rex allison, vice president of allied department stores formed southcenter corporation subsidiary of allied. goal build large shopping center south of downtown seattle match success of own northgate , began searching site, preferably @ least 100 acres. site chosen part of known andover tract, 800-acre (3.2 km) area of former pasture land being developed port of seattle industrial use. in anticipation of developments, entire area (947 acres; 383 ha) annexed city of tukwila in november 1957. southcenter corp. purchased 160 acres (0.65 km) strategically @ intersection of 2 major freeways, seattle - tacoma freeway (i-5) , i-405. construction schedule of mall depend on construction of freeways.

construction @ site began in 1967 , work on $30 million shopping center began in summer of 1967. john graham & company, seattle firm designed original northgate , tacoma malls, announced architect project. 4 labor strikes slowing work down, construction largely completed on structure may 1968. work on interior continued until day before opening on july 31. in total, 25 main contractors , 50 subcontractors helped build mall. concrete terrazzo floors of mall said largest in area (85,000 square feet) in of puget sound , last minute addition mall. needed make cement mixture floors 500 cubic yards of sand, 3,000 100-pound sacks of gray cement, 3,000 100-pound (45 kg) sacks of white cement , 5,000 100-pound (45 kg) sacks of brown marble chips. 30,000 feet (9,100 m) of zinc divider strips used floors.

the grand opening held on july 31, 1968 @ 11 a.m. washington state governor dan evans key speaker. @ 1,400,000 square feet (130,000 m) 92 stores employing 3,600 people, largest shopping mall in region.

westfield: 2002 - 2008

in 2002, mall purchased westfield group. @ time renamed westfield shoppingtown southcenter .

a view inside atrium, looking down 3rd floor. patrons eating @ dining terrace can seen @ top center.

on may 11, 2006, westfield broke ground on $240 million expansion. add 400,000 square feet (37,000 m)

since 2008

on july 22, 2010, seafood city opened in former mervyn s space. in 2014, container store opened in former borders books space. in 2014, westfield group split assets, malls in north america , europe being moved westfield corporation.