History
The mall was built in the 1950s and was originally anchored by a Montgomery Wards department store and a ToysЯus toy store. At the time it was the only modern shopping center in the general area as Hilltop Mall, Pinole Visa, and Bay Street had not yet been built. The toy store relocated to Pinole Vista Shopping Center in the 1990s while the department store went bankrupt company-wide and closed its location. The site fell into disuse and only supported a Mechanics Bank and some small ma 'n pa local businesses.
In 2004 as part of redevelopment efforts to revitalize the city's "Main Street" - Macdonald Avenue the city began to contemplate the revival of the center. This was envisioned as a way to ameliorate the budget deficit by acquiring additional sales tax revenues. controversially used eminent domain to demolish the entire mall, except the former toy store Mechanics Bank sites.
A new shopping center with modern central parking surrounded by shopping; as opposed to the classical retail architectural model of a centrally located retail structure building. The site is located between Macdonald Avenue, Interstate 80, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) tracks and the Richmond-Contra Costa County Health Center.
The city plans to expand the center by demolishing the health center and former toy store building and constructing a Lowe's home improvement store and garden center. The county health center would be relocated to Doctor's Hospital in San Pablo.
A Target Greatlands was originally envisioned however it was scaled down to a regular Target due to the state of the economy. Therefore a nearby Target in El Cerrito that had decayed over the years was relocated to this site. It is both the only LEED certified and only Target with its own built-in police substation.
In 2011 the Richmond Police Department's police activities league held its annual Shop With a Cop event here, and the Target store gave an additional $10 to each child's $100 shopping budget in addition to comping the sales tax.
Read more about this topic: Macdonald 80 Shopping Center
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