Westfield Southcenter

Westfield Southcenter, formerly known as Southcenter Mall, is a shopping mall located in Tukwila, Washington, US, and owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. It is the largest shopping center in Washington and the Pacific Northwest.
The mall is anchored by Macy's (formerly the Bon Marche( JCPenney, Nordstrom, and Sears (formerly Frederick & Nelson), and it also features an AMC movie theater, which opened in the 2000 the mall’s Sears is the only 2 Sears left other than Valley Mall in Union Gap Washington.
== History ==
=== Early history and construction: 1956–1968 ===
In early 1956, three officials from Northgate Shopping Center, James Douglas, president of Northgate Co., Wells McCurdy, Douglas' assistant, and Rex Allison, the vice president of Allied Department Stores formed the Southcenter Corporation as a subsidiary of Allied. Their goal was to eventually build a large shopping center south of downtown Seattle that would match the success of their own Northgate and began searching for a site, preferably with at least 100 acres. The site chosen was part of what was known as the Andover Tract, an 800-acre (3.2 km2) area of former pasture land being developed by the Port of Seattle for industrial use. In anticipation of the developments, the entire area (947 acres; 383 ha) was annexed by the city of Tukwila in November 1957. Southcenter Corp. purchased 160 acres (0.65 km2) strategically at what would eventually be the intersection of two major freeways, The Seattle - Tacoma Freeway (I-5) and I-405. The construction schedule of the mall would depend on the construction of the freeways.
Excavation at the site began in early 1967 and construction on the $30 million shopping center began in the summer of 1967. John Graham & Company, a Seattle firm that also designed the original Northgate and Tacoma Malls, was announced as the architect for the project. Even with four labor strikes slowing work down, construction was largely completed on the structure by May 1968. Work on the interior continued until the day before opening on July 31. In total, 25 main contractors and 50 subcontractors helped build the mall. The concrete terrazzo floors of the mall were said to be the largest in area (85,000 square feet) in all of Puget Sound and were a last minute addition to the mall. Needed to make the cement like mixture for the floors were 500 cubic yards of sand, 3,000 100-pound sacks of gray cement, 3,000 100-pound (45 kg) sacks of white cement and 5,000 100-pound (45 kg) sacks of brown marble chips. 30,000 feet (9,100 m) of zinc divider strips were used for the floors.
The grand opening was held on July 31, 1968, at 11 a.m. with Washington State Governor Dan Evans as the key speaker. At 1,400,000 square feet (130,000 m2) with 92 stores employing 3,600 people, it was the largest shopping mall in the region.
=== Westfield: 2002–2008 ===
In early 2002, the mall was purchased by the Westfield Group. At that time it was renamed "Westfield Southcenter".
On May 11, 2006, Westfield broke ground on a $240 million expansion. That was to add 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2)
=== Since 2008 ===
On July 22, 2010, Seafood City opened in the former Mervyn's space. In 2014, The Container Store opened in the former Borders Books space. In the same year, the Westfield Group split its assets, with malls in North America and Europe being moved into the Westfield Corporation.
In December 2017, Westfield Corporation was purchased by the European shopping center giant Unibail-Rodamco. The company took on the name Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, while its properties in North America and Europe were unified under the Westfield brand.
In September of 2024 Sears will close at the Valley Mall in Union Gap Washington this will leave only 1 Sears left.
Category:Malls that opened in 1968
Category:Malls in Washington
Category:Malls in the United States
Category:Shopping Malls
Category:Macy's-anchored Malls
Category:JCPenney-anchored Malls
Category:Nordstrom-anchored Malls
Category:Sears-anchored Malls
Category:Former Mervyn's-anchored Malls
Category:Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Malls
Category:Largest Malls in the United States