Rivercenter

For the St. Paul RiverCentre, see RiverCentre.

For the Chicago River Center, see Chicago River Center.

Rivercenter

File:Rivercenter.jpg
Location	San Antonio, Texas, USA
Coordinates
Opening date	1988
Developer	Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation
Owner	Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation
No. of stores and services	100+
No. of anchor tenants	2
Total retail floor area	1,060,000 sq ft (98,000 m2)
No. of floors	4
Website	www.shoprivercenter.com

Rivercenter is a shopping mall located in Downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA along the city's River Walk. It is anchored by Macy's, as well as a 38-story, 1,001-room Marriott hotel. The mall was purchased in 2005 by Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation.

History

Rivercenter opened in 1988 with San Antonio's first Lord & Taylor department store, an IMAX theater, as well as Dillard's (closed August 2008). Part of the downtown redevelopment included an extension of San Antonio's famed River Walk into the Rivercenter lagoon.

File:Marriott Rivercenter.jpg

The Marriott Rivercenter

Lord & Taylor, then owned by May Department Stores, was converted into a Foley's in 1989. In 2006, the space became Macy's after Macy's parent, Federated Department Stores, bought May Department Stores. The structure that houses Dillard's, an AMC Theatres, as well as other shops originally opened in 1887 as a freestanding Joske's at the corner of Alamo and Commerce streets. Several expansions from 1909 to 1953 brought the space to 551,000 square feet (51,200 m²). Joske's closed the flagship store for remodeling in 1987, planning to reopen in 1988, to coincide with the Rivercenter opening. But Dillard's acquired the Joske's chain shortly after the store closed for remodeling. The massive flagship store was divided up, with Dillard's occupying only a portion of the five-level building. The remaining area of the building was converted into lease space and a retail atrium for Rivercenter and an AMC movie theater. Even with the division of the building into other uses, portions of the structure, including 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m²). of space on the top two floors, as well as the old "bargain basement," remained unoccupied.

East Commerce entrance to Rivercenter

In October 2006, plans were revealed to redevelop the property over a number of years. Five-star restaurants and more outdoor seating would be added in the first phase of redevelopment. The redevelopment of the Joske's space would be the next phase. The Joske's facade along Commerce Street would be restored, bringing back the windows and brick that were covered in one of Joske's own renovations before Rivercenter was built, and tenants would be added for the currently vacant two upper floors. A luxury hotel would be added in the last phase, forcing a multi-level parking garage to close, but another parking garage would be built on another part of the property. San Antonio's Historic and Design Review Commission approved the redevelopment plan on October 4, 2006. A grand re-opening is planned for 2008.

It was reported in June 2008 that Ashkenazy purchased the historic Joske's building from Dillard's and plans to revitalize the landmark property as part of the property's redevelopment.

External links

• Rivercenter website
• Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation website
• New owner needed to breathe fresh life into downtown mall, San Antonio Business Journal, September 17, 2004.
• Rivercenter Mall will be put on sales block, San Antonio Business Journal, April 17, 1998.