Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

The_Overdog wrote:The plans I heard are more similar to Collin Creek ie: tear down part of the retail, add a hotel, and add residential. I guess we'll see once the plans come out.

Trademark also wants to share down the vast majority of the Galleria's retail space and add residential.

The only real difference is they want to add more office vs. a new hotel. But the Galleria already has Westin.

Trademark also wants to share down the vast majority of the Galleria's retail space and add residential.

Do they? The plans I've seen only to remove a few of the large anchors (nasty Belks and the Old Navy wing) and those could be moved to elsewhere in the mall.

The_Overdog wrote:

Trademark also wants to share down the vast majority of the Galleria's retail space and add residential.

Do they? The plans I've seen only to remove a few of the large anchors (nasty Belks and the Old Navy wing) and those could be moved to elsewhere in the mall.

The latest blueprints I've seen only keeps the retail space nearest to the Ice Rink intact (which are already occupied), and Nordstrom.

Addison wrote:

The_Overdog wrote:The plans I heard are more similar to Collin Creek ie: tear down part of the retail, add a hotel, and add residential. I guess we'll see once the plans come out.

Trademark also wants to share down the vast majority of the Galleria's retail space and add residential.

The only real difference is they want to add more office vs. a new hotel. But the Galleria already has Westin.

20% of retail space isn't the vast majority, that's probably the Belk wing that's already mostly vacant, and then the south parking garage.

Proquest20 wrote:

Addison wrote:

The_Overdog wrote:The plans I heard are more similar to Collin Creek ie: tear down part of the retail, add a hotel, and add residential. I guess we'll see once the plans come out.

Trademark also wants to share down the vast majority of the Galleria's retail space and add residential.

The only real difference is they want to add more office vs. a new hotel. But the Galleria already has Westin.

20% of retail space isn't the vast majority, that's probably the Belk wing that's already mostly vacant, and then the south parking garage.

If you look at the blue print, they want to eliminate huge chunk of ancillary retail space on the south side (in addition to the Old Navy space), which would boot all the stores that currently occupy those spaces.



EDIT: And I was mistaken. They do in fact want to add another hotel.

Now that Psychedelic Robot's gone, I really hope mall management leases the Dillard's wing considering there's barely anything there, besides Loft and J. Jill.

Was talking to some old co-workers at the Northpark Vineyard Vines yesterday, and the location here will be closing fairly soon. They are in the process of shipping out merchandise to nearby locations, and liquidating easy to sell stuff like ties, belts, t-shirts, and swimwear (basically the company's bread & butter).

acclar11 wrote:Was talking to some old co-workers at the Northpark Vineyard Vines yesterday, and the location here will be closing fairly soon. They are in the process of shipping out merchandise to nearby locations, and liquidating easy to sell stuff like ties, belts, t-shirts, and swimwear (basically the company's bread & butter).

That's sad, I actually shopped at that location fairly recently too. They recently closed their outlet at Grapevine Mills, hopefully they relocate to the Galleria or the Shops at Legacy.
The location is actually removed from the Willow Bend website, too.
I don't think there's much at the mall worth saving anymore. Or that it'll be possible to bring it back from what it is. Demolition is the only option now.
I will say though, it is quite trippy shopping nowadays at Willow Bend for that reason, knowing that the stores you go to today will probably be gone a month from now.

I don't know why Dilliards doesn't relocate to the Galleria's old Marshall Field's anchor spot. It makes total sense. Maybe Neimans would want to land there if Willow Bend bites the dust.

I was at Willow Bend this past weekend as well, again in the Dillard's wing and for the first time in the Macy's wing.

That Macy's is practically a ghost town and very poorly staffed. The 2nd floor in particular was also fairly lacking in inventory. It certainly pales in comparison to the Galleria Macy's

Dillard's, on the other hand, was actually kind of busy for late in the evening, well-stocked/clean and decently staffed.

The mall itself is still just plain sad. While they were mostly no-name stores (aside from H&M, which was also fairly dead) at least the Macy's wing was still generally occupied unlike the Dillard's wing.

Surprisingly, the Neiman Marcus at Willow Bend seems to be doing quite well. Decently stocked, and easy to find sales associates within it. I think having the furniture stores and the Equinox on the same outdoor courtyard as the Neiman Marcus helps a lot, as you never really need to enter the mall, and they're all relatively high end. I'd even place it above Nordstrom at Stonebriar, which almost seemed like a rack store in comparison.

The stores surrounding Neiman Marcus typically seem to do good business, last time I was at Willow Bend I popped into Swarovski and L'occitane and I wasn't the only customer in either of those stores. They didn't seem like watered down stores either, my experiences were normal. I could say the same about my experience at Vineyard Vines last month too, it's sad and honestly a bit surprising that they'd close considering they're usually the one of the busiest stores in the mall. But hopefully they find a home in the Galleria or in the shops at Legacy. I'd hate for them to end up in Stonebriar.

Lush is typically busy at Willow Bend too, I think they should move into a larger space elsewhere in the mall.

Proquest20 wrote:Surprisingly, the Neiman Marcus at Willow Bend seems to be doing quite well. Decently stocked, and easy to find sales associates within it. I think having the furniture stores and the Equinox on the same outdoor courtyard as the Neiman Marcus helps a lot, as you never really need to enter the mall, and they're all relatively high end. I'd even place it above Nordstrom at Stonebriar, which almost seemed like a rack store in comparison.

The stores surrounding Neiman Marcus typically seem to do good business, last time I was at Willow Bend I popped into Swarovski and L'occitane and I wasn't the only customer in either of those stores. They didn't seem like watered down stores either, my experiences were normal. I could say the same about my experience at Vineyard Vines last month too, it's sad and honestly a bit surprising that they'd close considering they're usually the one of the busiest stores in the mall. But hopefully they find a home in the Galleria or in the shops at Legacy. I'd hate for them to end up in Stonebriar.

Lush is typically busy at Willow Bend too, I think they should move into a larger space elsewhere in the mall.

It's the only Neimans in Collin County (the NorthPark store is pretty far away), and there's *A LOT* of money for them to tap into in Far North Dallas, West Plano, NE Carrollton and Frisco. So I'm not surprised that it does well.

Still, I'm certain the top brass downtown have been deliberating their future at Willow Bend given the overall state of the mall. It's really the exception to the rule, as Neimans otherwise doesn't do dead or even mid-tier malls (I.E. Galleria).

Most likely, if they did leave, they'd take over the old Sears spot at Stonebriar.

Addison wrote:

Proquest20 wrote:Surprisingly, the Neiman Marcus at Willow Bend seems to be doing quite well. Decently stocked, and easy to find sales associates within it. I think having the furniture stores and the Equinox on the same outdoor courtyard as the Neiman Marcus helps a lot, as you never really need to enter the mall, and they're all relatively high end. I'd even place it above Nordstrom at Stonebriar, which almost seemed like a rack store in comparison.

The stores surrounding Neiman Marcus typically seem to do good business, last time I was at Willow Bend I popped into Swarovski and L'occitane and I wasn't the only customer in either of those stores. They didn't seem like watered down stores either, my experiences were normal. I could say the same about my experience at Vineyard Vines last month too, it's sad and honestly a bit surprising that they'd close considering they're usually the one of the busiest stores in the mall. But hopefully they find a home in the Galleria or in the shops at Legacy. I'd hate for them to end up in Stonebriar.

Lush is typically busy at Willow Bend too, I think they should move into a larger space elsewhere in the mall.

It's the only Neimans in Collin County (the NorthPark store is pretty far away), and there's *A LOT* of money for them to tap into in Far North Dallas, West Plano, NE Carrollton and Frisco. So I'm not surprised that it does well.

Still, I'm certain the top brass downtown have been deliberating their future at Willow Bend given the overall state of the mall. It's really the exception to the rule, as Neimans otherwise doesn't do dead or even mid-tier malls (I.E. Galleria).

Most likely, if they did leave, they'd take over the old Sears spot at Stonebriar.

They most definitely would not take a spot at a mall where not even the Nordstrom seems to be doing well. Stonebriar is a perfectly mid range mall, turning it high end is just not going to happen. Not even Michael Kors could make it there.

Proquest20 wrote:

Addison wrote:

Proquest20 wrote:Surprisingly, the Neiman Marcus at Willow Bend seems to be doing quite well. Decently stocked, and easy to find sales associates within it. I think having the furniture stores and the Equinox on the same outdoor courtyard as the Neiman Marcus helps a lot, as you never really need to enter the mall, and they're all relatively high end. I'd even place it above Nordstrom at Stonebriar, which almost seemed like a rack store in comparison.

The stores surrounding Neiman Marcus typically seem to do good business, last time I was at Willow Bend I popped into Swarovski and L'occitane and I wasn't the only customer in either of those stores. They didn't seem like watered down stores either, my experiences were normal. I could say the same about my experience at Vineyard Vines last month too, it's sad and honestly a bit surprising that they'd close considering they're usually the one of the busiest stores in the mall. But hopefully they find a home in the Galleria or in the shops at Legacy. I'd hate for them to end up in Stonebriar.

Lush is typically busy at Willow Bend too, I think they should move into a larger space elsewhere in the mall.

It's the only Neimans in Collin County (the NorthPark store is pretty far away), and there's *A LOT* of money for them to tap into in Far North Dallas, West Plano, NE Carrollton and Frisco. So I'm not surprised that it does well.

Still, I'm certain the top brass downtown have been deliberating their future at Willow Bend given the overall state of the mall. It's really the exception to the rule, as Neimans otherwise doesn't do dead or even mid-tier malls (I.E. Galleria).

Most likely, if they did leave, they'd take over the old Sears spot at Stonebriar.

They most definitely would not take a spot at a mall where not even the Nordstrom seems to be doing well. Stonebriar is a perfectly mid range mall, turning it high end is just not going to happen. Not even Michael Kors could make it there.

As posted in the Galleria thread, the Nordstrom at Stonebriar was most certainly hopping yesterday (on a Sunday) compared to the Galleria store.

It may not have as many luxury product lines or fancy fixtures/decor that the Galleria and NorthPark stores do, but it was doing pretty good business, well-organized and well-staffed.

As far as Neiman Marcus, if Willow Bend goes under, there's really no other option besides Stonebriar. A Neimans at Galleria would be cannibalized by NorthPark's store, the remaining spots large enough to accommodate a full-line department store at Legacy West have pretty much been spoken for, and I doubt they'd abandoned Collin County altogether.

And Stonebriar (love it or hate it) gets very good traffic, even more so than the Galleria. The food court and halls yesterday were packed, reminiscent of that photo that's circulating around the internet at Valley View's food court in the 1970s. Same goes for the parking lot(s). It does help that it has 4 anchor stores, a movie theatre *AND* a Dave & Busters, on top of a hotel (besides a hotel, the Galleria just has corporate offices, 2 anchor stores and the skating rink to drive traffic).

EDIT: RE: Michael Kors is interesting, because Coach seems to be doing just fine. Meanwhile, Coach closed its Galleria store and Michael Kors is doing just fine there.

Addison wrote:

Proquest20 wrote:

Addison wrote:
It's the only Neimans in Collin County (the NorthPark store is pretty far away), and there's *A LOT* of money for them to tap into in Far North Dallas, West Plano, NE Carrollton and Frisco. So I'm not surprised that it does well.

Still, I'm certain the top brass downtown have been deliberating their future at Willow Bend given the overall state of the mall. It's really the exception to the rule, as Neimans otherwise doesn't do dead or even mid-tier malls (I.E. Galleria).

Most likely, if they did leave, they'd take over the old Sears spot at Stonebriar.

They most definitely would not take a spot at a mall where not even the Nordstrom seems to be doing well. Stonebriar is a perfectly mid range mall, turning it high end is just not going to happen. Not even Michael Kors could make it there.

As posted in the Galleria thread, the Nordstrom at Stonebriar was most certainly hopping yesterday (on a Sunday) compared to the Galleria store.

It may not have as many luxury product lines or fancy fixtures/decor that the Galleria and NorthPark stores do, but it was doing pretty good business, well-organized and well-staffed.

As far as Neiman Marcus, if Willow Bend goes under, there's really no other option besides Stonebriar. A Neimans at Galleria would be cannibalized by NorthPark's store, the remaining spots large enough to accommodate a full-line department store at Legacy West have pretty much been spoken for, and I doubt they'd abandoned Collin County altogether.

And Stonebriar (love it or hate it) gets very good traffic, even more so than the Galleria. The food court and halls yesterday were packed, reminiscent of that photo that's circulating around the internet at Valley View's food court in the 1970s. Same goes for the parking lot(s). It does help that it has 4 anchor stores, a movie theatre *AND* a Dave & Busters, on top of a hotel (besides a hotel, the Galleria just has corporate offices, 2 anchor stores and the skating rink to drive traffic).

EDIT: RE: Michael Kors is interesting, because Coach seems to be doing just fine. Meanwhile, Coach closed its Galleria store and Michael Kors is doing just fine there.

...and Swarovski and L'occitane closed their Galleria stores while keeping their Willow Bend stores open. Very interesting tbh.

As for Neiman Marcus, I don't think they are particularly interested in larger format stores, with their most recently built store at Clearfork being under 100k square feet. While I do think Willow Bend is definitely going under within the next couple of years, I do not think Stonebriar is a logical option for Neiman Marcus to go to. Town East does very well, even being the last mall to lose its Sears store locally. That means nothing when the clientele base is not geared towards those higher end types of stores. By your logic, Neiman Marcus would do well at Town East or Parks, too, but unfortunately that is just not going to happen. What would be neat is a smaller format Neiman Marcus store at Legacy or at Grandscape, which are higher end destinations.

Proquest20 wrote:

Addison wrote:

Proquest20 wrote:
They most definitely would not take a spot at a mall where not even the Nordstrom seems to be doing well. Stonebriar is a perfectly mid range mall, turning it high end is just not going to happen. Not even Michael Kors could make it there.

As posted in the Galleria thread, the Nordstrom at Stonebriar was most certainly hopping yesterday (on a Sunday) compared to the Galleria store.

It may not have as many luxury product lines or fancy fixtures/decor that the Galleria and NorthPark stores do, but it was doing pretty good business, well-organized and well-staffed.

As far as Neiman Marcus, if Willow Bend goes under, there's really no other option besides Stonebriar. A Neimans at Galleria would be cannibalized by NorthPark's store, the remaining spots large enough to accommodate a full-line department store at Legacy West have pretty much been spoken for, and I doubt they'd abandoned Collin County altogether.

And Stonebriar (love it or hate it) gets very good traffic, even more so than the Galleria. The food court and halls yesterday were packed, reminiscent of that photo that's circulating around the internet at Valley View's food court in the 1970s. Same goes for the parking lot(s). It does help that it has 4 anchor stores, a movie theatre *AND* a Dave & Busters, on top of a hotel (besides a hotel, the Galleria just has corporate offices, 2 anchor stores and the skating rink to drive traffic).

EDIT: RE: Michael Kors is interesting, because Coach seems to be doing just fine. Meanwhile, Coach closed its Galleria store and Michael Kors is doing just fine there.

...and Swarovski and L'occitane closed their Galleria stores while keeping their Willow Bend stores open. Very interesting tbh.

As for Neiman Marcus, I don't think they are particularly interested in larger format stores, with their most recently built store at Clearfork being under 100k square feet. While I do think Willow Bend is definitely going under within the next couple of years, I do not think Stonebriar is a logical option for Neiman Marcus to go to. Town East does very well, even being the last mall to lose its Sears store locally. That means nothing when the clientele base is not geared towards those higher end types of stores. By your logic, Neiman Marcus would do well at Town East or Parks, too, but unfortunately that is just not going to happen. What would be neat is a smaller format Neiman Marcus store at Legacy or at Grandscape, which are higher end destinations.

Comparing Town East to Stonebriar is really Apples & Oranges.

Stonebriar is in close proximity to a ton of corporate offices with high-paying jobs and a ton of upper middle class households. So consumers within its entrapment can actually afford Neimans. The fact that you have a separate thriving shopping mall full of luxury boutiqus right on the other side of the SR 121 / DNT interchange proves this.

Neimans is also a destination-type store whose clientale will give them patronage in spite of Stonebriar itself not being "higher-end."

Town East, conversely, is in a working class industrial area where the buying power of the consumers in its entrapment is far lower. In fact, that's exactly why it was the last Sears store to close in DFW (Sears catered specifically to working class consumers).

This is only tangentially related to Willow Bend, but the nearby Bed Bath and Beyond is now set to close.

The stores near the Galleria and Stonebriar live on, for now...

Addison wrote:This is only tangentially related to Willow Bend, but the nearby Bed Bath and Beyond is now set to close.

The stores near the Galleria and Stonebriar live on, for now...

The chain’s in a major struggle right now. In general, the majority of the stores surrounding Willow Bend are doing quite well. Last tine I went to Willow Bend, I went to the Target on the other side of the tollway right after and it seems to be doing quite well. It’s also a nicer Target than most as well.

Proquest20 wrote:

Addison wrote:This is only tangentially related to Willow Bend, but the nearby Bed Bath and Beyond is now set to close.

The stores near the Galleria and Stonebriar live on, for now...

The chain’s in a major struggle right now. In general, the majority of the stores surrounding Willow Bend are doing quite well. Last tine I went to Willow Bend, I went to the Target on the other side of the tollway right after and it seems to be doing quite well. It’s also a nicer Target than most as well.

Normally, a dead mall would drag down the entire surrounding area with it. Shops at Willow Bend, Vista Ridge and Collin Creek have all defied that trend.

All of the Targets in North Dallas and in the Tollway suburbs are pretty consistently nice IMO.

I'm a fan of the Wally World across the street myself (with the Wine & Sushi bar). I call it the Bougie Walmart.

Addison wrote:

Proquest20 wrote:

Addison wrote:This is only tangentially related to Willow Bend, but the nearby Bed Bath and Beyond is now set to close.

The stores near the Galleria and Stonebriar live on, for now...

The chain’s in a major struggle right now. In general, the majority of the stores surrounding Willow Bend are doing quite well. Last tine I went to Willow Bend, I went to the Target on the other side of the tollway right after and it seems to be doing quite well. It’s also a nicer Target than most as well.

Normally, a dead mall would drag down the entire surrounding area with it. Shops at Willow Bend, Vista Ridge and Collin Creek have all defied that trend.

All of the Targets in North Dallas and in the Tollway suburbs are pretty consistently nice IMO.

I'm a fan of the Wally World across the street myself (with the Wine & Sushi bar). I call it the Bougie Walmart.

Yeah, I drive past Vista Ridge multiple times per week and it amazes me how nice that area is, yet how dead that mall is. Unfortunately, having Southlake Town Square, Grapevine Mills, Stonebriar, and Legacy West all on the same tollway seems to have done a number on it.

As for the Shops at Legacy, last time I was there it seemed to have been struggling with a number of vacancies as well, especially as you go further south, towards the Marriott.

Willow Bend defies that trend because unlike mall stores, which someone would be willing to travel to the Galleria for, people living in West Plano are going to go to the closest Walmart, Target, or Home Depot stores to them. I think the furniture stores and Neiman Marcus fall in that same category in a way, because with a bunch of single-family homes and growth in the area, they’re more necessary than ever - and they’re destination stores unlike most mall stores. People definitely make trips to Willow Bend just to shop at RH and Crate and Barrel.

What I’d like is for Willow Bend to focus on bringing more athleisure brands into the mall to compliment its Equinox. I’m sure that could be a drawing point to bring Alo, Vuori, Finish Line, Adidas, or even another Lululemon into the mall, provided they’re located in the Crate and Barrel court. I'd like for one major athleisure brand to take over the old Wicker Park Home space (the one next to Express), another to take the old Justice space, another to take the old Brookstone, and the space in between Pop Culture and Squishable. Then, I'd like for the old Forever 21, the old Agaci, and the two big slews of vacant spaces on the 2nd floor over by Dillards to become large-format stores for fast fashion brands (Zara, Uniqlo, Mango, etc;) I think Primark could build a two story store out of some of these spaces, or just that one storefront that was supposed to be an office tower in the food court. Close CPK or relocate it to the district, then add another furniture store (maybe Arhaus?)

Hell, back when Apple originally closed and Sephora was still holding on, I really wanted Sephora to take over the Apple space and build a larger store, like the one at NorthPark. Hopefully they can find someone else to take their place at this point.

I went to NorthPark today and went to a couple stores, they were all pretty busy with long lines except for Vineyard Vines, where I was the only person inside. So I’m not surprised they held in at Willow Bend as long as they did, although I do wish they would’ve stuck around for the malls sake. Their products are sold at Dillards though so I guess it doesn’t really matter.

I also got a free whale sticker when I went to the Willow Bend location I’d love to see them open a new store over on Knox or in the Galleria

Lush is now closed at this location. Really sucks that they ended up opening at Stonebriar because they’d look very neat at The Shops at Legacy or Watters Creek.

Sooooo uhhhh… any news on the redevelopment plans that were close to being complete a month ago? Hopefully they include tearing down the mall and building around the anchor tenants and the furniture court.

a full tear down and re-development is really the only way this place can re-invent itself.

With all the recent closures, I feel as if new management doesn't care to do anything for the mall to generate long term traffic, as they just continue to fill store fronts with no-name stores, while letting existing tenants which drive traffic to the mall to leave. If they want anyone in the area to continue to have a reason to visit Willow Bend, they need to hurry up with the redevelopment plans, and work on actually leasing the mall. That's why I believe that the redevelopment plans will involve tearing down the mall portion, because no other mall would put zero effort into leasing big name stores for a long term.

Another store, Luxe Sleep Concepts, will be opening in the old Wicker Park Home space.

One bad sign I noticed - on the "key tenants" section of the leasing brochure, a lot of the tenants that you'd think would be considered key tenants, such as Swarovski, Brooks Brothers, Mac, and L'occitane, were notably missing. Makes me wonder if they're planning to depart from the center as well soon - all of the others were the furniture tenants, the anchor tenants, and stuff like H&M.

I'm hoping new management considers completely tearing down the current food court, and turning the space on the second floor above the exit into the District into a new one. That would make a lot more space for other things, such as hotels, apartments, even just another courtyard, where the current one is, and would concentrate most of the food places in the mall into the same wing, especially as the food court where it is is very easy to miss if you haven't visited the center before. In fact, with this option, they could possibly do what NorthPark did by opening up a balcony overlooking the District from the food court.

I also don't think mall management seems to take customer feedback seriously, I've emailed them multiple times to inquire about the future of this center to no response. I wouldn't be surprised if their "plans" that they said they were going to propose to the City of Plano involved tearing down the entire mall. They were supposed to come out a while ago.

In fact, this seems like the more likely route: https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-esta ... nger-kohan

This is not inside the mall, but the Bed, Bath, and Beyond right outside Willow Bend Mall has been tagged as 'poorly performing' and will be permanently closed.

The_Overdog wrote:This is not inside the mall, but the Bed, Bath, and Beyond right outside Willow Bend Mall has been tagged as 'poorly performing' and will be permanently closed.

Someone else mentioned this before, but the entire chain seems to be in a struggle. A lot of other retailers surrounding Willow Bend seem to be doing quite well, like the Target across the street.

Still, the mall needs to be demolished.

acclar11 wrote:Was talking to some old co-workers at the Northpark Vineyard Vines yesterday, and the location here will be closing fairly soon. They are in the process of shipping out merchandise to nearby locations, and liquidating easy to sell stuff like ties, belts, t-shirts, and swimwear (basically the company's bread & butter).

Announced today, Vineyard Vines will be opening at the new/revamped OMNI PGA Frisco Shopping District. I guess they didn't mention that because it was unannounced, but explains the shutter in Plano.

Jasimm wrote:

acclar11 wrote:Was talking to some old co-workers at the Northpark Vineyard Vines yesterday, and the location here will be closing fairly soon. They are in the process of shipping out merchandise to nearby locations, and liquidating easy to sell stuff like ties, belts, t-shirts, and swimwear (basically the company's bread & butter).

Announced today, Vineyard Vines will be opening at the new/revamped OMNI PGA Frisco Shopping District. I guess they didn't mention that because it was unannounced, but explains the shutter in Plano.

I could’ve seen them opening on either side of Legacy, but that’s pretty cool. Haven’t heard of what else is opening there, but it’ll be neat to see what it becomes.

Jasimm wrote:

acclar11 wrote:Was talking to some old co-workers at the Northpark Vineyard Vines yesterday, and the location here will be closing fairly soon. They are in the process of shipping out merchandise to nearby locations, and liquidating easy to sell stuff like ties, belts, t-shirts, and swimwear (basically the company's bread & butter).

Announced today, Vineyard Vines will be opening at the new/revamped OMNI PGA Frisco Shopping District. I guess they didn't mention that because it was unannounced, but explains the shutter in Plano.

They posted that on their website the day Willow Bend closed, so it sounds like a new location had been in the works for a while.

acclar11 wrote:

Jasimm wrote:

acclar11 wrote:Was talking to some old co-workers at the Northpark Vineyard Vines yesterday, and the location here will be closing fairly soon. They are in the process of shipping out merchandise to nearby locations, and liquidating easy to sell stuff like ties, belts, t-shirts, and swimwear (basically the company's bread & butter).

Announced today, Vineyard Vines will be opening at the new/revamped OMNI PGA Frisco Shopping District. I guess they didn't mention that because it was unannounced, but explains the shutter in Plano.

They posted that on their website the day Willow Bend closed, so it sounds like a new location had been in the works for a while.

I drive past that area quite frequently, and I do believe that if 380 were to improve, between that PGA retail district and the nearby Gates of Prosper, which is now getting a Target store, DFW could end up having an even bigger shopping district than the Stonebriar/Legacy district soon. If Neiman Marcus were to leave Willow Bend, that could be a huge possibility as to where they could end up. Would be nice to have a store right on the property of the resort.

I could see NM going up there to get the tourist dollars with Ritz Carlton and such opening around there.

Speaking of resorts, I feel like Willow Bend would be a great site to be redeveloped into a mega resort for the area. It’s a decent size, and has decent attractions.

The map of Willow Bend has been updated on the website. They have Cinepolis at the location where it originally was going to be built, although I'm not sure if that's an error or if they're coming back again, knowing that the developers wanted to open the theatre again ASAP.

Here we go.... Sounds promising!

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... bend-mall/

So it's basically getting the Galleria treatment...

Addison wrote:So it's basically getting the Galleria treatment...

I like that the Dillard's wing is the wing that's getting torn down. That wing is already pretty dead, and that'll provide for more connectivity between that side of the property and the District.
I want to see some renderings as to how the project is expected to look.

Proquest20 wrote:

Addison wrote:So it's basically getting the Galleria treatment...

I like that the Dillard's wing is the wing that's getting torn down. That wing is already pretty dead, and that'll provide for more connectivity between that side of the property and the District.
I want to see some renderings as to how the project is expected to look.

Can you give a breakdown of the redo for us that can't get pass the paywall?

vman wrote:

Proquest20 wrote:

Addison wrote:So it's basically getting the Galleria treatment...

I like that the Dillard's wing is the wing that's getting torn down. That wing is already pretty dead, and that'll provide for more connectivity between that side of the property and the District.
I want to see some renderings as to how the project is expected to look.

Can you give a breakdown of the redo for us that can't get pass the paywall?

I'm only getting past the paywall by using Reader mode on my browser, but essentially:

The plans include 672 one-bedroom and 288 two-bedroom apartments. The parking ratio is one space allotted for every 300 square feet of living space.
One of the 5-story apartment buildings is at the corner of Chapel Hill Boulevard and Plano Parkway and will include a new parking garage and a dog park. The other two are in the middle of the property with one next to the interior ring road of the mall.
The proposed 171,000-square-foot office building is next to the open space with restaurants completed in 2018 on the Dallas North Tollway side where a Saks Fifth Avenue once stood.
The high-rise hotel has 250 rooms is on the other side of the restaurants and faces the frontage road of the Dallas North Tollway.
The property already has 4,200 parking spaces, both surface lots and three parking garages. The project proposes to have one more parking garage and a total of about 5,600 spaces.
While the mall is being downsized, the unused area around the property could be used for new retail spaces that are more suited to the way people shop today, Platt said.

Additionally, half of the mall is planned to being torn down (the Dillard's side), with all of the anchor stores remaining in their current locations, while Neiman Marcus and Macy's will still be connected to the enclosed mall section.

Just my opinion, but I don't see why they don't just tear down the current food court and build a new one elsewhere on the property. I'm sure the District is just going to become apart of an outdoor section, but the area above the Ascension Court would make a better location for a food court than the current location, and would build a lot more space for development.

The DMN is making it harder to share photos so here is a snap from my phone of the site plan concept.

Plano would lose its feel, some residents say, with massive Willow Bend mall overhaul
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/05 ... -overhaul/

TLDR: NIMBY woman thinks there will be too many apartments near her. City officials want to prevent another dead mall like Collin Creek became.

In the 30 years since Bourke moved to the Glen Meadows development, she’s seen the symbols of slow, suburban life disappear.

Apartments and office buildings challenge the suburban status quo, but mixed-use developments are the way of the future, according to Braster. He said retail centers across the country are adopting that model, which morphs existing space into “mini town squares,” to become more successful — and stay alive.

City officials want to prevent another dead mall like Collin Creek became.

Collin Creek, when it closed, had about as many open stores as Willow Bend has now. It's always been a dying mall, like even when Apple was there, you didn't need an appointment, you could just walk in.

OrangeMike wrote:Plano would lose its feel, some residents say, with massive Willow Bend mall overhaul
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2023/05 ... -overhaul/

TLDR: NIMBY woman thinks there will be too many apartments near her. City officials want to prevent another dead mall like Collin Creek became.

In the 30 years since Bourke moved to the Glen Meadows development, she’s seen the symbols of slow, suburban life disappear.

Apartments and office buildings challenge the suburban status quo, but mixed-use developments are the way of the future, according to Braster. He said retail centers across the country are adopting that model, which morphs existing space into “mini town squares,” to become more successful — and stay alive.

I mean... she's not entirely wrong. Tollway traffic is gonna be unbearable if Willow Bend does turn into apartments.

The_Overdog wrote:

City officials want to prevent another dead mall like Collin Creek became.

Collin Creek, when it closed, had about as many open stores as Willow Bend has now. It's always been a dying mall, like even when Apple was there, you didn't need an appointment, you could just walk in.

The only real reason why they don’t close the mall is likely that it still has all its anchors and that it doesn’t look like a dated eyesore from the outside, like Collin Creek did, aside from the theatre that was built and never opened.
I remember when Sears closed at Collin Creek, they didn’t even turn the lights on in the main mall areas anymore.

acclar11 wrote:I mean... she's not entirely wrong. Tollway traffic is gonna be unbearable if Willow Bend does turn into apartments.

I'm not sure what the alternative is though. I'd prefer to continue to build more dense developments such as this. If traffic gets worse, then perhaps people will eventually adapt and be more willing to opt for public transit or living closer to work (if those are options for them).

I get that that's not an option for many, and that's fine, but we need to think of ways where we can continue to grow in a more smart and sustainable way.

The alternative is so much worse. Accept it Plano, repurpose is the best way to go.