Homart Development Company

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Homart Development Company, a Chicago-based subsidiary of Sears, was one of the largest builders of shopping centers and malls in the United States from 1959 to 1995.

Company history

As retail development in the United States shifted away from downtowns with the growth of suburbia after World War II, some major department stores such as Sears moved into the business of developing malls in which to place new anchor tenant locations.[1] Homart Development Company was founded in 1959 for the purpose of building regional shopping malls for Sears.[2] The "Homart" brand name had been used by Sears for many years before the development company was founded.[3]

Seminary South Shopping Center in Fort Worth was their first project.[4][5]

By 1971, Homart was operating nine regional shopping locations, and had numerous others in development.[6] It became the nation's second largest mall developer,[7] and by 1992 it was reported that Homart had developed 80 malls with over 75,000,000 square feet (7,000,000 m2) of retail space.[8] By 1994, it was also operating 36 of those developed malls.[9]

In November 1994, Sears announced that it planned to sell off Homart as part of a restructuring.[10] General Growth Properties completed an acquisition of Homart in late 1995 in a transaction valued at $1.85 billion, then one of the biggest real estate deals in history.[11][12][13] Homart also owned a number of office buildings which were also sold in 1995.[14]

Management

Sears executive Emory Williams was the first president of Homart. (He later became chairman and CEO of Sears in the mid 1970s.) Warren G. Skoning was appointed president in 1967,[15] and elected as chairman in 1974.[16] Also serving as vice-president of real estate development for Sears, Skoning was involved in the development of the Sears Tower.[17][18][19] W.E. Lewis was named president in 1974 when Skoning became chair.[16]

Edwin Homer, former president of Chrysler Realty, joined as president in 1980, later became chair and CEO, and served until his retirement in 1984.[20][21][22] Homer diversified Homart's portfolio by developing office properties and community centers, in addition to malls, and also sold some of Homart's malls to generate additional profit for Sears.[21]

In 1985, Michael J. Gregoire was named president and COO, and he also became chairman in 1987.[23][24]

Notable projects

Notable shopping centers developed by Homart include:

Mall name Town State Notes Year opened
Seminary South Shopping Center Fort Worth Texas An open air mall which opened in March 1962. It was sold by Homart in 1985. It was renovated and enclosed, and reopened as the Fort Worth Town Center in 1987,[25][26][27][28][29] and then as "La Gran Plaza" in 2004.[30] 1962
Hancock Shopping Center Austin Texas 1964[27]
Coronado Center Albuquerque New Mexico 1965[27]
Colonie Center Albany New York First enclosed shopping mall in New York State's Capital Region. 1966[27]
Inland Center San Bernardino(Inland Empire area) California 1966[31]
Midland Mall Warwick Rhode Island Renamed the Rhode Island Mall in March 1985. Closed in 2012. 1967[32]
Woodfield Mall Schaumburg (Chicago metropolitan area) Illinois Joint venture with A. Alfred Taubman, was world's largest enclosed mall at time of opening.[33][34] 1971
Valley View Center Dallas Texas 1973
Metrocenter Phoenix Arizona Joint venture with Westcor[35] 1973
Altamonte Mall Altamonte Springs Florida Jointly developed with Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation[36][37] 1974
Maplewood Mall Maplewood (Minneapolis – Saint Paul area) Minnesota 1974[38]
Westminster Mall Westminster (Orange County) California 1974[39]
Brea Mall Brea (Orange County) California 1975[40]
Northbrook Court Northbrook (Chicago metropolitan area) Illinois 1976
Orland Square Mall Orland Park (Chicago metropolitan area) Illinois 1976
Eden Prairie Center Eden Prairie (Minneapolis – Saint Paul area) Minnesota 1976[41]
Florence Mall Florence (Cincinnati – Northern Kentucky metropolitan area) Kentucky 1976
Woodland Hills Mall Tulsa Oklahoma Expansion completed by Homart in 1982 1976
Burnsville Center Burnsville (Minneapolis – Saint Paul area) Minnesota 1977[38]
Louis Joliet Mall Joliet Illinois Renamed in mid 2000s as Westfield Louis Joliet 1977
Fiesta Mall Mesa (Phoenix metropolitan area) Arizona 1979
Spring Hill Mall West Dundee(Chicago metropolitan area) Illinois 1980
Willowbrook Mall Houston Texas 1981
Tysons Galleria Tysons Corner (Washington Metropolitan Area) Virginia Jointly developed with Lerner Enterprises 1988
Lakeland Square Mall Lakeland Florida Jointly developed with Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation[42] 1988
The Shoppes at Buckland Hills Manchester (Greater Hartford area) Connecticut Opened in March 1990 as "The Pavilions at Buckland Hills". 1990[43]
Steeplegate Mall Concord New Hampshire Opened August 1, 1990[44][45] 1990
Bay City Mall Bay City Michigan Co-developed with Robert B. Aitkens[46] 1991
North Point Mall Alpharetta (Atlanta metropolitan area) Georgia 1993
Natick Collection Natick (Greater Boston) Massachusetts Rebuilding of prior Natick Mall 1994[47]
The Woodlands Mall The Woodlands (Greater Houston) Texas Developed with The Woodlands Corporation 1994[48][49]

References

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  1. ↑ White, John R. & Gray, Kevin D. Shopping Centers and Other Retail Properties: Investment, Development, Financing, and Management p.61-62 (1996) (ISBN 978-0471040026)
  2. ↑ Suchman, Diane R. Managing a Development Company (Urban Land Institute 1987)("Homart was established in 1959 for the purpose of developing regional shopping malls.")
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (1945 Sears advertisement includes "Homart" products)
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.("Seminary South was the first shopping center developed by Homart Development")
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.("Sears also said today that it would sell its Homart Development Company, a real estate development firm. ")
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.("General Growth made a number of high-profile acquisitions of shopping malls in every part of the country. Some of General Growth's biggest included: the $1.85 billion acquisition of Homart Development Co. from Sears Roebuck in 1995, said to be one of the largest real estate transactions in history at the time")
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Pridmore, Jay. Sears Tower: A Building Book from the Chicago Architecture Foundation p.17 (Pomegranate 2002)(ISBN 978-0764920219)
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.("Mr. Skoning was co-chairman of the building committee for Sears Tower and had much of the responsibility for the construction of the mammoth skyscraper...")
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Kowinski, William Severini. The Malling of America (2000 ed.) (ISBN 978-1401036768)(Kowinski incorrectly identifies Homer as "Ernest," but notes his appearance at an ICSC conference in the early 1980s: "There was affable Ernest Homer, head of Homart, the developing arm of Sears — the largest retailer and biggest advertiser in the country — who handed out a business card that was also bigger than anyone else's.")
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.("Woodfield Mall, the world's largest shopping center, opened last week in Schaumburg, 25 miles northwest of Chicago")
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. ("In Central Florida, Homart developed Altamonte Mall and is building the West Oaks Mall")
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.("Homart has developed Burnsville Center, the Eden Prairie Mall and the Maplewood Mall, as well as power centers throughout the nation")
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.("Eden Prairie Center opened in 1976 and was substantially remodeled in 1989.")
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.("Homart teamed up with DeBartolo again for Lakeland Square Mall, which opened in 1988.")
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.("This year alone, Homart will open the 1 million-square-foot Woodlands Mall in Woodland, Texas...")
  49. ↑ Kutchin, Joseph W. How Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. Got Its Start and How It Grew: An Oral History and Narrative Overview (2001) p.542-47 (ISBN 978-1581126631)
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