Monmouth Mall is an enclosed split level shopping center in

Eatontown, New Jersey Eatontown is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the borough's population was 12,709,NJ 35, NJ 36, and Wyckoff Road ( Route 547). It is owned

Kushner Companies Kushner Companies LLC is an American real estate developer in the New York City metropolitan area. The company's biggest presence is in the New Jersey residential market. A study published in December 2017 by ''Bloomberg News'' indicated that ...

and managed by Westminster Management. The mall has a

gross leasable area In architecture, construction, and real estate, floor area, floor space, or floorspace is the area (measured as square feet or square metres) taken up by a building or part of it. The ways of defining "floor area" depend on what factors of the buil ...

of , making it the sixth largest shopping mall in New Jersey, with approximately 79 shops. The mall is located near the

Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May to the New York state line at Montvale. Its name refers to New Jersey ...

at exit 105 and NJ 18 near the former location of the

Eatontown Circle This is a list of traffic circles in New Jersey. The U.S. state of New Jersey at one point had a total of 101 traffic circles, 44 of which were part of state roads. However, the number has shrunk as traffic circles have been phased out by the ...

. Anchor stores at the mall are Boscov's, and

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

History

Originally named "Monmouth Shopping Center", the Monmouth Mall opened on March 1, 1960, as a , 14-building, 50-store open-air center. The mall was built on what was then a farm owned by the Valentino Family of the nearby city of Long Branch, New Jersey. Original anchors of the mall consisted of Bamberger's (at that time a subsidiary of

) and

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...

. After pulling out of New Jersey, Montgomery Ward became

Alexander's Alexander's is a real estate investment trust that owns 7 properties in New York metropolitan area, including 731 Lexington Avenue, the headquarters of Bloomberg L.P. It is controlled by Vornado Realty Trust. It was founded by George Farkas and ...

in 1975. The mall was enclosed and expanded to its current size in 1975. The older section of the mall continued to have one level while the new expansion included two levels that were anchored by

Abraham & Straus Abraham & Straus, commonly shortened to A&S, was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, it became part of Federated Department Stores in 1929. Shortly after Federated's 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company ...

Hahne's Hahne & Company (pronounced Hayne), commonly known as Hahne's, was a department store chain based in Newark, New Jersey. The chain had stores located throughout the central and northern areas of New Jersey. History The firm was founded by ...

and

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

as of 1975. In 1987, the mall was renovated. The renovation brought in new lighting, new flooring, and new glass and chrome handrails along the second level. The renovation also removed the in-floor planters and replaced them with movable planters. The renovation also closed off the entrance near the former arcade on the Wyckoff Road side of the old wing; and raised the lowered seating areas in front of the anchors.

Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...

was discovered at the mall in 1989 as a three-year-old. In 1994–1996, the mall was expanded to include an elevator and a food court (modeled after a Jersey Shore theme) including 1920s style beach photos wrapped around the columns in the older section of the mall, as well as

Nobody Beats the Wiz The Wiz, also known at times as Nobody Beats the Wiz, was a chain of electronic stores in the northeastern United States, located primarily in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. History The chain was founded by four brothers, Stephan, Lawr ...

, a new 15-screen

Loews Theatres Loews may refer to: * Loews Cineplex Entertainment, formerly Loews Incorporated, a defunct North American cinema chain which formerly owned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer **'' United States v. Loew's Inc.'', a United States Supreme Court case involving Loews ...

(now

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

). Old Navy to replace the closed

Caldor Caldor, Inc. was a discount department store chain founded in 1951 by husband and wife Carl and Dorothy Bennett. Referred to by many as the Bloomingdale's of discounting, Caldor grew from a second story "Walk-Up-&-Save" operation in Port Ches ...

. The mall also saw minor cosmetic changes that consisted of replacing black with sky blue in the color schemes through painting and retiling, as well as new lighting along the pillars. Through the years, Monmouth Mall has seen many different anchors that have come and gone, however, JCPenney was built by themselves in 1976 and remains to this day. In 1987, the Bamberger's brand was eliminated and the store was renamed for its parent corporation, Macy's. Anchor changes consisted of

replacing Alexander's in 1986, Macy's replacing the former store Bamberger's in 1987,

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was the oldest brick and mortar department store in the United States, in business from 1826 to 2020. The brand was purchased during former owner Le Tote's 2020 liquidation bankruptcy and relaunched by new owner, Saadia Group, as ...

replacing the former store Hahne's in 1990,

Stern's Stern's (originally Stern Brothers) was a regional department store chain serving the U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The chain was in business for more than 130 years. In 2001, Stern's parent company Federated Departmen ...

replacing Abraham & Straus in 1995 and Boscov's replacing Stern's in 2001. In 2010, Planet Fitness opened at Monmouth Mall. Monmouth Mall went through a significant expansion in 2009. In mid-2010, cosmetic renovations started at the mall including new tile, paint, lighting, and a complete overhaul of the food court. The renovations lasted until summer 2011. In 2012, Vornado Realty Trust announced plans to sell its portfolio of enclosed shopping malls. In August 2015, Vornado's fifty percent stake and management in the Monmouth Mall was sold to co-owner

for $38 million. On September 7, 2018, it was announced that Lord & Taylor would be closing as part of a plan to close 10 stores nationwide. The store closed in January 2019. On June 22, 2020, Crate & Barrel opened a temporary close out store on the 1st floor in the former Lord & Taylor space. It has since closed. In 2021, Brookfield sold the mall to Kushner Companies. In 2022, the mall announced that the parking garage would be demolished due to structural instability. In June 2022, it was announced that JCPenney would be closing at the mall in October 2022 which has been at the mall for 47 years opening in 1975 in the mall expansion wing. This left Boscov's and Macy's as the only anchors left.

Redevelopment

In February 2016, Monmouth Mall owner Kushner Companies announced conceptual plans to redevelop the mall into a pedestrian-friendly "live, work and play" development at a cost of approximately $500 million. The development, which would be renamed the "Monmouth Town Center" was proposed to include residential apartments, a hotel, retail space, entertainment, and dining options. The proposal also included an outdoor plaza, green spaces, and a biker- and pedestrian- friendly streetscape. The residential component was intended to include one and two bedroom apartment units to minimize impacts on local traffic and public school systems. Kushner Companies then-CEO

Jared Kushner Jared Corey Kushner (born January 10, 1981) is an American businessman and investor. He served as a senior advisor to 45th U.S. president Donald Trump, his father-in-law. Since leaving the White House, Kushner founded Affinity Partners, a pri ...

noted the decline of traditional enclosed shopping malls in the 21st Century and consumer trends of the

Millennial generation Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 20 ...

as catalysts behind the redevelopment. On April 27 of that year, a public meeting was held in a local middle school gymnasium where Eatontown's mayor Dennis Connelly and the Borough Council spoke out against a zoning change that would allow the expansion of the mall. Several borough residents also spoke out against the redevelopment, and Kushner announced the abandonment of the project at the same meeting. A proposal issued in January 2018 named "The Heights At Monmouth" suggested the demolition of the two-story wing that includes Boscov's and covers . It also proposed additions that would total and bring the mall's total gross leasable area to . During this time, Kushner partnered with

Rouse Properties Rouse Properties was a real estate investment trust headquartered in New York City. The company owned 35 shopping malls in 22 states encompassing approximately 24.5 million square feet of retail space. History In 2011, General Growth Properties a ...

(now

Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...

) for the redevelopment. The redevelopment was approved on July 16, 2018. The new plans include opening up the two story mall corridor and creating new outdoor corridors. The plan also includes provisions for the addition of 700 residential apartment units, of which 88 will be designated affordable housing.

References

{{New York City Malls Buildings and structures in Monmouth County, New Jersey Shopping malls in New Jersey Shopping malls established in 1960 Tourist attractions in Monmouth County, New Jersey Shopping malls in the New York metropolitan area Eatontown, New Jersey 1960 establishments in New Jersey