Anchorage 5th Avenue Mall is a regional shopping mall located in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

, Alaska, United States. It has five levels with the only JCPenney store in Alaska as its sole anchor. It also boasts Alaska's only Victoria's Secret, Apple Store,

Coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, and Michael Kors locations, The website describes it as a “distinctive, five level shopping center surrounded by the buzz of Anchorage’s downtown core.” There was also a Nordstrom as a second anchor store until it closed in September 2019. The mall is owned by Northwestern Simon Inc. and is administered by the Simon Property Group.

History

The mall opened in 1987, covering a

city block A city block, residential block, urban block, or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets, not counting any type of thoroughfare within t ...

previously occupied mostly by small, two-story commercial buildings and parking lots. The original developers were JCPenney and The Rainier Fund. As the mall opened during an economic slowdown in Alaska, its occupancy rate hovered in the 20 to 30 percent range for most of its early years. It was later sold to Northwestern Simon Inc. in 1994, and it has been operated by Simon Property Group ever since. On June 26, 2019, it was announced that Nordstrom would be closing on September 13, 2019. The mall was closed for 2 weeks in March, 2020 as part of an attempt to curb the spread of the COVID-19.

Facilities

Interior

Compared to other malls in Alaska, The 5th Avenue Mall integrates many more aesthetic designs inside its buildings. Some examples are the sky-lit roof above the main "Arcade", and features galleria-style wide, open spaces. The top floor of the Arcade is exclusively a

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dinner. I ...

. Most of the mall's elevators have glass panels, and are decorated with neon lights. The mall uses

skybridges A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of enclos ...

to provide indoor access between buildings and parking, contributing to the streetscapes of 5th and 6th Avenues. The ground floor of the galleria functions as an indoor pedestrian extension of "D" Street.

Parking

There is significant parking available at the mall, which is owned and operated by ACDA via EasyPark. The 5th Avenue Parking garage is one of the largest parking garages Downtown, offering six levels of parking. The JCPenney parking garage, recently under renovation, offers additional parking Downtown and the first hour is free to park in that garage.

List of anchor stores

References

{{Shopping malls in Alaska 1987 establishments in Alaska Buildings and structures in Anchorage, Alaska Economy of Anchorage, Alaska Shopping malls in Alaska Shopping malls established in 1987 Simon Property Group Tourist attractions in Anchorage, Alaska