The new plan includes the demolition of the northern section of the mall, from Macy’s to Neiman-Marcus, and was approved by Plano City Council during its Feb. 24 meeting.
“Willow Bend is yesterday's suburban mall—it was designed for a different era,” Michael Platt, Centennial executive vice president of mixed-use development, said. "The one thing that really doesn't work on this site is what's there today."
In a nutshell
An initial plan for the redevelopment was approved last February, before needing to be reworked because of the impending closure of Macy's within the mall, Platt said.
The initial redevelopment would have seen the half of the mall south of Neiman-Marcus, except for Dillard’s, demolished.
“It really caused us to have to pause,” Platt said. “We still feel like the vision and the strategy for the center is correct, but we just need to pivot in how we actually implement that... It's the same chessboard, we’re just moving the pieces around in a way that, I think, is more relevant and actually more reflective of the market.”
Neiman-Marcus and Dillard’s both own their locations within The Shops at Willow Bend. Macy’s previously owned its location within the mall, but the space was bought by Centennial, CEO Steven Levin said.
Diving deeper
The new plan also includes the addition of 50 townhomes at the corner of Plano Parkway and Chapel Hill Boulevard, adjacent to the existing parking garage. Single-family villas, similar to the Villas at Legacy West, were also added as an allowed use in the project’s zoning.
The new single-family residential units will not increase the total number of residential units allowed on the site and will be included in the initially approved maximum of 965.
The demolished section of the mall is now set to include a trio of mid-rise apartment buildings, and several sections of open space.
The street system on the property is also changing, as the previous plan provided east-west connectivity between Chapel Hill Boulevard to Dallas Parkway. Updated plans now include mostly north-south connectivity between Chapel Hill Boulevard and Park Boulevard, according to city documents.
A planned on-property hotel along the Dallas North Tollway was not impacted by the update.
Quote of note
“The tenancy [at The Shops at Willow Bend] is waning and struggling,” Levin said, “so we're trying to get started as fast as we can.”
