The Center Court in January 2007 |
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| Location | Mays Landing, New Jersey, USA |
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| Opening date | 1987 |
| Management | Kravco Company LLC |
| No. of stores and services | 115 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 (space for 4 anchors) |
| Total retail floor area | 1,028,500 sq ft (95,550 m2) |
| Parking | Lighted Lot |
| No. of floors | 2 (3 in Macy's) |
| Website | www.shophamilton.com |
The Hamilton Mall is a major shopping destination in Mays Landing, in Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. Opened in 1987, the two-story enclosed mall is anchored by J.C. Penney, Macy's and Sears (Sears and JC Penney were at the Shore Mall prior to 1987).
The mall is adjacent to the Black Horse Pike (U.S. Route 322) and U.S. Route 40, and is close to the Atlantic City Expressway and Atlantic City, making it a high tourist destination for vacationers there. The mall has a gross leasable area of 1,028,500 sq ft (95,550 m2).[1]
The mall's food court on level 2 has many dining choices, featuring Subway (opened in 2008, formerly Arby's), and others. Sit-down restaurants on level 1 are Ruby Tuesday, opened in 1987 and Johnny Rockets, which opened in 2008. An Olive Garden and Red Lobster are located on pad sites on the outskirts of the parking lot.
Financial services include an Executive Cash Service Center and various Bank of America ATMs. The mall has over 140 stores. It is the largest mall in the Atlantic County region.
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Construction on the $100 million Hamilton Mall began in November 1985 by Kravco Company (now Kravco Company LLC) and JCP Realty Inc., the development arm of JCPenney, just south of the Atlantic City Racetrack.[2] The mall, which was built on a 104-acre (0.42 km2) tract that were former entrance roads and overflow parking for the race course, eventually opened in September 1987.[3] The mall contained room for four department stores, one of which was never built.[4] The Macy's was originally supposed to be a Bambergers, until Macys acquired the company in 1986. JCPenney and Sears moved from the nearby Shore Mall.
In August 1989, a small strip mall anchored by Marshalls, dubbed the "Convneience Center", opened behind the main mall area as an outparcel.[5] In 1991, Red Lobster opened on the outskirts of the parking lot, with Olive Garden also opening on a pad site in the parking lot in 1995.[6] The Convenience center is currently void of any retail stores, and its lone tenant is a gymnastics academy. The former Marshalls is currently located at the nearby Hamilton Commons shopping center.
In the early 2000s, construction began on the Wrangleboro Consumer Square, a large power center sprawling from the Atlantic City Expressway to the Black Horse Pike, with some smaller pad sites located on the mall's entrance road. This, together with the development of several other new shopping centers in the area, prompted the mall to undergo an $8 million renovation. The renovation included the removal of several fountains, trees and planters, and a carousel located near the mall's main entrance. Most of this was done to make way for more kiosks, as well as new lounge areas featuring soft seating and TVs. The large elevated seating area and planters in the food court were removed to make way for more seating and spaces for tenants in the center. The renovation also included new flooring, lighting, signage, and color scheme.[7] In 2009, a new carousel opened across from the food court, in the underused area near the "ghost" anchor.
In November 2011, plans were announced for a two-phase expansion of the mall, set to begin in 2012. The first phase would add a 63,000 sq. ft. shopping center between Macy's and JCPenney, as well as the addition two restaurants on the property near the Black Horse Pike. The second half of the project will include a 9,000 sq. ft. expansion to the back of the mall facing the racetrack. The expansion also includes plans to fix the 5 storm basins in an attempt to reduce flooding on the property.[8]
In 2010, plans were revealed to develop an office and technology park adjacent to the mall and the race course, called the "NextGen International Aviation Center for Excellence". The office park, which is being developed by NextGen Aviations, will contain six office buildings totaling between 400,000 and 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) on the site of the race course parking lot, corporate and academic housing on the current site of the stables (which would be moved), and a renovation of the grandstand and addition of a 20-story hotel and conference center. The Wrangleboro Road entrance road to the mall would be extended through the mall parking lot and into the proposed office park, as well as the construction of several new roads and parking lots on the site. The convenience center would be torn down and replaced with a state of the art transit center that would shuttle employees to the NextGen technology park currently under construction at the Atlantic City International Airport.[9]
There was to be a fourth, unnamed anchor store located at the north side of the mall (facing the Atlantic City Race Track) but the space was never occupied and the footprint is marked by the large grass patch in the parking lot, as well as an underused area across from the food court where the mall entrance would've been. It was rumored to be either a movie theater or Steinbach. With the latter going out of business and a Regal Cinemas that opened at the nearby Hamilton Commons shopping center, as well as an abundance of large-scale box stores built in the area, it is unlikely that anything will be opened in the vacant spot in the near future.
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