The middle of three signs on Daniel Webster Highway |
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| Location | Nashua, New Hampshire, United States |
|---|---|
| Address | 310 Daniel Webster Highway |
| Opening date | July 23, 1986[1] |
| Management | Simon Property Group |
| Owner | Simon Property Group |
| No. of stores and services | 140[2] |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 |
| Total retail floor area | 870,000 square feet (81,000 m2)[3] |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Website | Pheasant Lane Mall |
Pheasant Lane Mall, occupying 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2), is one of the largest shopping malls in the state of New Hampshire and the focal point of the commercial area in south Nashua.
Currently, the mall has more than 140 stores and kiosks, including 5 anchor stores: Target, Sears, JCPenney, Macy's, and Dick's Sporting Goods, plus 15 restaurants. As of 2011, it is owned and managed by Simon Property Group of Indianapolis.
Located off Exit 1 of the F.E. Everett Turnpike/Route 3 in Nashua and Exit 36 of Route 3 in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, the property straddles the state line, although the entire mall is in New Hampshire.
Proximity to the border has long drawn shoppers from Massachusetts seeking to take advantage of New Hampshire's lack of a sales tax.
Approximately 1/3 of the parking lot and water runoff area is located in Tyngsborough. Shoppers who park adjacent to the Sears store walk across the state line to get to and from their cars. The JCPenney store has an unusual pentagonal shape to keep it entirely within New Hampshire. Were the store to still have a square corner at its south end, the entire mall would be subject to Massachusetts sales taxes.[4]
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The mall site, formerly the Kessler Farm, was first re-zoned by the Nashua Board of Aldermen in December 1978 with the intention of clearing the way for primary owners Yankee Greyhound Inc. to build a major regional retail center on the site.[5] By early 1984, the property was owned by State Properties of New England, previously a minority owner; ground work had been started and steel had been ordered.[6] After more than two years of construction, Pheasant Lane Mall opened on July 23, 1986.[1] The resulting mall development transformed South Nashua. It turned the southeastern portion of the city, roughly conforming to the city's 8th ward, from a sparsely populated outlier area into a swath of financial, retail and high-density residential development that stretches from over the state border in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, to Exit 3 of the Everett Turnpike, just south of Rivier College.
The rise of South Nashua spurred by Pheasant Lane Mall has elevated Nashua's municipal identity beyond gateway to New Hampshire, and helped create its current status as part of the Greater Boston economic area, and a hub for surrounding bedroom communities.
The nature of building on a border between a state with no sales tax (New Hampshire) and a state with one (Massachusetts) was shown in the changing plans and problems. Originally, the mall was to straddle the border, with retail on the no-sales-tax side. Restaurants were to be on the opposite end, since Massachusetts has a lower meals tax. However, the government of Massachusetts declared all customers, in all stores, would have to pay sales tax to Massachusetts. Therefore, the mall was redesigned so that all stores and restaurants were on the New Hampshire side of the border.[7]
However, the site lines had been drawn up incorrectly, placing one corner of the JCPenney building in Massachusetts. Consequently, the corner of JCPenney was cut off and re-bricked into its current pentagonal shape.[7]
Former anchors were Jordan Marsh and Lechmere. The Jordan Marsh location was occupied in spring 1996 by Macy's, which then moved in early 2006 into the space formerly taken by Filene's. The original Jordan Marsh location in the mall is now occupied by Dick's Sporting Goods and restaurants Burtons Grill and Red Robin. Lechmere closed in fall 1997 and was rebuilt into the Target store in fall 1999.
In 2011, mall officials announced that Pheasant Lane would undergo a $10 million renovation. Plans for renovating had been discussed many times during the two prior years, but the recession delayed the project. Among the changes will be a redesign of the food court, new lighting and fixtures, ceramic tiles and carpeting, as well as an expansion to the number of retailers and restaurants. Work is expected to be completed by October 2011.[8][9]
Discussions for an Amtrak station beside the mall are ongoing as of March 2011, after plans for extending Pan Am tracks from Boston to Concord fell through.[10]