By Robert Hines, SMC Librarian, June 2024.
The MacArthur Center is a large-scale shopping mall in downtown Norfolk named after Douglas MacArthur, the building itself sits adjacent to the MacArthur Memorial. Initial plans and guidelines for the mall’s creation can be found from 1994. City records show the guidelines and site selection for the shopping center. Initial goals were for the construction to reflect other large, enclosed shopping centers in Richmond and the Washington DC area. As early as 1994 articles in the Virginia Pilot highlight the hopes of the MacArthur Center to be a major commercial center for Norfolk’s downtown. One Pilot Article read: “…the mall would crown a 20-year downtown revitalization that included development of Waterside, Harbor Park stadium, a hotel and convention center complex and the Nauticus maritime attraction.”
The site sites on land that originally comprised Norfolk’s City Market space. Groundbreaking for the mall took place in January 1996. The event was tied to a “Five-Star” theme related to the five-star ranking MacArthur held. Worked continued the site to become the MacArthur center for the next three years, opening in March of 1999.
Throughout the five year development period, the potential shopping center was met with a multitude of objections and opinions by the neighborhoods and existing storefronts in the area. Primary concerns existed around jobs, housing, and potential economic impacts, both positive and negative, a construction project of this magnitude would entail. These concerns were frequently dismissed by officials, citing the expected upturns the project would have on the downtown community, which had declined considerably by the mid 1990s. The early stages of this project involved attracting major retail outlets to serve as anchors for the shopping center. Nordstrom's signing on as an anchor store was seen as a major success and highlighted as an example of the growth the MacArthur Center project would bring to the downtown area.
The opening of the MacArthur center was seen as a potential major boon for the city. Officials remarked on the scale of the project, believing it would help Norfolk serve as major hub for commerce in the Hampton Roads area once more; with one stating, “…declared that MacArthur will be Norfolk's ``economic engine'' - that it will keep young people from leaving and bring new businesses in, that new housing and new jobs will spring from it.” Throughout 1999 and the early 2000s, the center was seen as a major commercial and investment success for the city, despite issues with staffing and operations from the onset.
The mall has passed ownership several times since the 2010s. Originally the mall was owned by Taubman Centers Inc., which sold the MacArthur center and several other properties to Starwood Property Trust in 2014. After Starwood defaulted on it’s purchasing loans for the properties the shopping center shifted hands again. In 2019 it was revealed that Starwood Property Trust had defaulted on a $750,000,000 loan which had used the MacArthur Center as collateral.
The MacArthur center has seen considerable decline in recent years, leading up to and during the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Even as recent as 2023 the MacArthur Center has seen major retailer closures, with the departure of Dillard’s, the mall’s final anchor store. These portions of the center have been purchased by the city of Norfolk for redevelopment. As of 2024 around fifty stores and pop-up stands remain open in the mall. Currently the MacArthur mall is fully owned by the City of Norfolk. Plans for its redevelopment or demolition have been deadline as 2030. Several of these projects have been laid out by members of Norfolk’s City Council and Administration, but nothing has been concretely agreed upon.
Street Address: 300 Monticello Ave, Norfolk, VA 23510
Name (Original): MacArthur Center
Architect: Alexius Conroy
Cost (Original)$300,000,000
Construction Date: January 1996
Opening Date: March 12,1999
GPS: 36.848979, -76.287824
Major Keywords/Search Terms:
City planning--Virginia--Norfolk, Hampton Roads (Va. : Region), Norfolk (Va.), Norfolk (Va.). Department of City Planning, Urban renewal, Economic development--Virginia--Norfolk, Norfolk (Va.), Norfolk (Va.). City Council.
MacArthur Center—Norfolk(Va.)
Sources:
1) Primary Sources:
a. Books and Pamphlets:
City Directories:
2000 Norfolk City Directory (Norfolk, Virginia).
2003 Norfolk City Directory (Norfolk, Virginia).
2022 Norfolk City Directory (Norfolk, Virginia).
b. Documents/Collections:
Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority Miscellaneous Photograph Collection, RG 06-2017-005, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia.
Mason C. Andrews Correspondence, RG 02-2016-002, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia.
Department of City Planning, Norfolk, Virginia Records, RG 08-0000-002, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia.
Bill Miner Collection on Norfolk Planning and Development, MSS 0000-033, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia.
Shopping Centers- MacArthur Center 1994-1999, Sargeant Memorial Collection Norfolk Clippings Files, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia.
Shopping Centers-MacArthur Center 1999-, Sargeant Memorial Collection Norfolk Clippings Files, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia.
c. Photographs/Images:
For photographs and drawings of the MacArthur center from pre-1994 please consult:
Subject Prints, "MacArthur Center," The Virginian Pilot Photograph Collection, MSS 2021-001, Sargeant Memorial Collection, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Virginia.
d. Newspaper/Magazines/Journals:
Wharton, Tony. "Norfolk Nears Deal on Upscale Malle as Many as 3,000 New Jobs Nordstrom, Macy’s Sought as Anchors." Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA), FINAL ed., sec. FRONT, 20 Apr. 1994, p. A1
"Norfolk’s MacArthur Center a Regional Mall." Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA), FINAL ed., sec. FRONT, 21 Apr. 1994, p. A14.
Marshall, Alex. "New Mall: Two Possible Futures..." Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA), FINAL ed., sec. LOCAL, 17 Dec. 1995, p. B1.
Marshall, Alex. "Downtown Mall to Come to Life Friday." Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA), FINAL ed., sec. LOCAL, 25 Jan. 1996, p. B1.
Goldblatt, Jennifier. "Norfolk’s Payoff: Estimated 72,000 Pack MacArthur Center On Its Opening Day." Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA), FINAL ed., sec. FRONT, 13 Mar. 1999, p. A1.
Pierceall, Kimberly. "MacArthur Center mall owner in default on loan." Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA), 1ST ALL ed., sec. Business, 20 Dec. 2019, p. 12A
Staff writer, Ian Munro. "What's next for Norfolk's MacArthur Center? Ideas include convention center and mixed-use development." Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA), IB ALL ed., sec. Business, 4 Dec. 2023, p. 3I.
Staff writer, Trevor Metcalfe. "Major steps remain for downtown mall Redevelopment plan for MacArthur Center still needs developer, financing." Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA), IB ALL ed., sec. Business, 13 May 2024, p. 22I.
2) Secondary Sources:
a. Websites:
Current landing site for the MacArthur Center for shops, events, and so on.
Website for S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co., who leases the property for the MacArthur Center.