Casa Linda Shopping Center
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Casa Linda Shopping Center or Casa Linda Plaza, as it is more commonly known, is one of the oldest shopping centers in the Dallas area. It is located in northeast Dallas. It opened in 1945 and was unique in that the design architects Milam & Roper used was in the Spanish Revival, featuring tile roofs and masonry walls.
The crown jewel of the center was its movie theatre, opened in 19xx. It opened as a luxe, single screen theatre. It was part of the MacLendon chain, owned by Gordon MacLendon, who was best known as the owner of KLIF radio. It gaudy neon tower, which evoked an Art Deco style, was a remarkable site in the neighborhood. The theatre was converted several times and was eventually a quad-plex. It closed in 1999, although there are still hopes that an owner will be found for the landmark. [1]
Among the first tenants were Mott's Variety Store, C & S Hardware, Skillern's drug store, Reynolds-Penland, El Fenix, Zenith Televisions, Ashburn's Ice Cream, Wyatt's Cafeteria
Hopkins-Shafer purchased the property in the 1980s and painted the buildings bright pink. Since then, the center went through many changes in ownership.
[edit] New Ownership ... Again
The shopping center changed hands again, selling to a company called AmREIT, which began renovating the center in March 2008 with promises to restore the beloved movie theatre. According to the company website, the firm "desires to restore this great center back to its original grandeur. This premier property has tremendous traffics counts, a highly populated area surrounding it, significant barriers-to-entry and an emerging demographic. It is truly a property worth revitalizing with updated features, new tenants and a sense of place for its east Dallas neighbors."[2]
The Casa Linda Cafeteria, much loved by locals, particularly after the demise of the famed Highland Park Cafeteria, unexpectedly closed in 2007 shortly after the property was sold.[3] It was reopened, again as the Highland Park Cafeteria, in May, 2007. [4]
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