In 2019, following years of decline, the mall was closed for redevelopment.[1] The structure has since been partially demolished, with the former atrium and wings set to be used as part of a $1 billion mixed-use development.[2][3]
History
When the mall opened in July 1981, Collin Creek featured a River Walk: a series of fountains connected by an indoor creek. The mall also contained a "village" of small shops lining corridors narrower than the rest of the mall. The creek and most of the fountains were later removed, except for a small fountain left in the middle of the mall. Several years before the mall closed, plants were put in the remaining fountain. The village shops were removed and the space converted into a food court as part of a remodeling project in 1992.[4]
In 2008, Collin Creek Mall had a small remodel including new paint and new tile,[5] much like what Richardson Square Mall had in 1998.
In 2018, the property was sold to Centurion American. On Friday, July 26, 2019, Collin Creek Mall had a farewell party to say goodbye to the mall. As of Wednesday, July 31, 2019, Collin Creek Mall is closed. Demolition and redevelopment began in September 2019.
Anchor tenants
Sears
A Sears department store and accompanying Sears Auto Center opened with the mall on July 29, 1981.[6]
In December 2018, following a bankruptcy filing, Sears Holdings announced the sale of 505 locations, including the Collin Creek Mall location.[7] The store was purchased by mall owner Centurion American and closed in March 2019 to allow for redevelopment.[8][9]
On October 7, 2013, Dillard's announced that its Collin Creek location would close by January 2014.[11] The store never reopened and was demolished as part of the mall's redevelopment.
Lord & Taylor/Mervyn's/Amazing Jake's
Lord & Taylor opened on October 5, 1981, several months after the rest of the mall. The store was the third Lord & Taylor to open in the Dallas area.[12]
In April 1990, Mervyn's purchased the store for an undisclosed sum, intending it as a larger replacement for its existing Plano store.[13] The store was closed for renovation and re-opened in October.[14] The store was closed in 2006 when Mervyn's exited the North Texas area.[15]
In December 2007, Collin Creek management announced the beginning of construction for Amazing Jake's Food and Fun, a family entertainment center and buffet restaurant, in the former Mervyn's space.[16] Amazing Jake's opened on July 11, 2008.[17] The center closed on April 1, 2019 in anticipation of the mall's closure.[18]
JCPenney
While JCPenney was announced as an anchor tenant at the mall's opening,[6] the store itself did not open until July 29, 1983.[19] The store was a prototype for a major repositioning by JCPenney, which moved the chain's focus to contemporary fashion, leisure, and home furnishings.[19]
JCPenney did not close with the mall, as it owned the land under the store. Initial plans for the site's redevelopment included a new store for the chain.[1] However, on August 18, 2020, shortly after JCPenney filed for bankruptcy protection, it was announced that the store would close by November 2020.[20] The 10.6-acre site was sold to Centurion American, the company heading the mall's redevelopment, for $15 million.[21]
The mall's southernmost anchor was opened as a Sanger–Harris department store on October 20, 1980, ten months prior to the mall itself opening.[22] The store was converted to a Foley's in 1987 when the two chains were merged.[23] On September 9, 2006, the store was converted to a Macy's as part of a nationwide rebranding initiative by owner Federated Department Stores.[24] The store closed on March 31, 2017.[25]
Like most Sanger–Harris locations, entrances to the store were marked with four-story marble columns and an abstract tile mosaic.[26] Initial plans for the mall's redevelopment called for the mosaics to be preserved, but this was abandoned when it was discovered that they contained asbestos.[27]
Redevelopment
An empty wing of the mall in 2019
Since the mall's opening, the area near Collin Creek has witnessed explosive growth, and the addition of the President George Bush Turnpike. The mall has suffered from fierce competition from newer nearby malls. The August 2000 opening of new regional mall Stonebriar Centre in nearby Frisco affected the sales of Lewisville's Vista Ridge Mall (Vista Ridge was more directly affected by the October 1997 opening of the nearby Grapevine Mills in Grapevine) and Plano's Collin Creek Mall as both malls experienced what Larry Howard, vice president for development of General Growth Properties Inc., called "some cannibalization".[28] In 2018, developer Sam Ware of Dreien Partners introduced a $1 billion+ plan to revitalize the mall, by tearing down much of its north wing and opening up the creek beneath it, as well as adding office, hotel, and residential components.[29] That deal fell through and Centurion American proposed to raze the mall and redevelop it as a mixed-use center. In 2019, Centurion American began demolishing Collin Creek Mall. Demolition was completed in 2021, marked by a groundbreaking event on September 24, 2021, beginning construction of the new development.[30] As of September 2023, project infrastructure and a large underground parking garage are under construction, with completion of those structures planned in late 2024.[31]
