Steeplegate Mall is a largely shuttered[2][3] enclosed shopping mall in Concord, New Hampshire, United States. Opened in 1990, it has struggled with high vacancy rates throughout its existence.[4] It is slated to be torn down and replaced by a mixed-use development.
As of June 2024, its only remaining businesses are JCPenney (the only business from opening day and traditional retailer still operating), a trampoline park that opened in 2018,[5][6] and a health club that opened in 2019.[7] During the mall's decade of decline prior to 2024, it also featured several other non-traditional tenants including a live performance theater that operated from 2016 to 2024,[8] a short-lived charter school from 2018 to 2020,[5] and a pickleball club from 2022 to 2024.[9]
The mall opened with four large retail anchor stores, a food court with a 630-square-foot (59 m2) mosaic,[10] and room for about 62 storefronts, depending on layout. Following the interior's closure on April 22, 2022, after the mall's owners evicted the few remaining interior businesses, only six businesses with exterior entrances plus the later-opened pickleball club remained open.[6][9] In 2023, new owners proposed to tear most of it and an adjacent movie theater down and build a large mixed-use development with apartments and some retail.[11] In January 2024, all but three of the remaining businesses were evicted for the re-development project; only JCPenney, the health club, and the trampoline park remain as they hold long-term leases.[12]
Steinbach closed its store in 1999 as part of the company's bankruptcy. Sage-Allen, which closed in Fall 1992 and remained vacant for almost 7 years,[citation needed] became The Bon-Ton in 1999,[14] with a second Bon-Ton and Circuit City splitting the former Steinbach. Circuit City liquidated and closed in 2009.
Decline
In 2011, General Growth Properties, the successor company to Homart, transferred ownership of the mall, along with 29 other underperforming malls, to its Rouse Properties subsidiary.[15] In August 2014, Rouse Properties announced that it had defaulted on its loan for Steeplegate Mall and was in the process of turning over the property to its lenders.[16] By April 2015 the property was owned by a consortium of lenders including Wells Fargo Bank and Midland Loan Servicing and managed by Colliers International.[17]
In January 2015, Old Navy, one of four main anchors at the mall, closed its doors.[18]
In May 2016, Steeplegate Mall was bought by the New York-based Namdar Realty Group for $10.4 million.[19]
As part of an attempt to diversify from traditional retail and food stores, Hatbox Theater, a live theater venue located in the former Coldwater Creek and using the adjoining former RadioShack space for storage and rehearsals, opened in 2016.[20] Similarly, VIP Bounce Houses and Laser Tag opened in the former Old Navy location that year.[21]
In April 2018, Bon-Ton closed both of its stores as part of a plan to close 42 stores nationwide.[22] Later that same year, a charter school called Capital City Charter School moved into the former Bon-Ton men's clothing and houseware store,[5][23] although it closed and filed for bankruptcy in 2021,[24][25] while an Altitude Trampoline Park franchise opened within the former Circuit City space in November.[8][26]
In 2019, a health club called The Zoo opened a franchise in the former Bon-Ton women's and children's store, marking the first time since Circuit City's closure that all five anchors in the mall had an active permanent tenant.[7] In 2019, one of the mall's oldest tenants, a confectionery called True Confections Candies & Gifts, moved out of the mall, citing declining foot traffic and the mall owners' unwillingness to lower rent rates.[27]
On February 6, 2020, Sears closed the Steeplegate store as part of closing 96 stores nationwide, which left JCPenney as the only traditional anchor.[28] The former Sears store was used as a state vaccination site during the COVID-19 pandemic.[29]
Mall interior closes for overhaul
In February 2022, the mall's owners told the five remaining businesses that were only accessible from inside the mall to vacate their spaces by March 2022 for upcoming unspecified changes to the mall's interior.[30] The same month, the owners also told the Hatbox Theatre, which only had an exterior entrance, that it had until March 13 to vacate the spaces it used.[20] However, the owners renounced their demands shortly afterward and allowed the theater to stay, although Hatbox was no longer permitted to use the adjoining former RadioShack space.[31] By April 2022, all of the last five interior-only businesses vacated the mall; four of them moved to other locations—three to elsewhere in Concord and one to Hooksett—while the fifth decided to close permanently.[32] On April 22, the mall closed its interior to visitors, leaving only the six remaining businesses with exterior entrances—JCPenney, Talbots, Chico's, Hatbox Theatre, The Zoo Health Club, and Altitude Trampoline Park.[6] On December 8, 2022, a pickleball club called All-Stars Pickleball Club opened in the former Old Navy space.[9]
Proposed demolition and redevelopment
In 2023, owner Namdar Realty Group sold the mall to Onyx Partners Ltd. of Needham, Massachusetts for $18.18 million.[33] Onyx announced plans to demolish most of the mall to build of a mixed-use retail and residential development with 625 apartments in place of both the mall and the adjacent Regal Cinemas movie theater, the latter of which closed on April 18, 2024.[34] The proposal began city review in September 2023; construction could start as early as 2024.[11] In November 2023, all remaining tenants except for the pickleball club and long-term leaseholders JCPenney, The Zoo Health Club, and Altitude Trampoline Park, were sent legal notices to vacate the mall by the end of January 2024;[12] the pickleball club's lease expired in May 2024, after which it relocated elsewhere.[35] The three long-term leaseholders will remain in standalone buildings derived from the mall building after its demolition, with The Zoo Health Club moving into the space next to Altitude Trampoline Park.
By June 2024, urban explorers began accessing the closed portions of the mall, with some vandalizing the interior, leading to several arrests.[2][3] The mall's owners' responded by installing fencing around the perimeter of the closed sections of the mall and boarding up closed entrances.[2][3] The owners also filed a permit on June 18 for a partial demolition of the mall,[2] which the Concord Planning Board approved on July 17.[36]
Gallery
Steeplegate JCPenney exterior
Steeplegate Sears exterior as it appeared in July 2017
The mall's previous logo as pictured on a sign along Loudon Road
The mall's east end on July 31, 2021; all businesses and other tenants were permanently closed.
The mall's food court on July 31, 2021, with no tenants. Tables and chairs were removed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The mall's center atrium on April 16, 2022, six days before the interior's closure, looking down the mall's west end. All remaining interior-only tenants were evicted by this time.
The mall's center atrium and skylight on April 16, 2022, looking down the mall's east end.
The mall's clock tower on April 16, 2022. The teal paint on the tower's roof can be seen peeling away, while rust can be seen on the bars holding the front clock and on one of the lights.
Map of Steeplegate Mall in 2015, shown on interior of brochure "Shopping & Dining Directory"
