Broadway Plaza (Denver)

Broadway Plaza, also known as Broadway InterPlaza, located near Broadway and Alameda in Denver, Colorado, was a retail complex most notable as the only North American location of the French department store Printemps. The store was open for approximately 16 months before failing, and the building is now a regional office for the medical testing company Quest Diagnostics. The multi-use complex of buildings is now re-purposed under various ownership entities.

Early days

In its earlier days, the land on which the shopping center was built had two incarnations: Beginning in 1922, Merchants Park sports arena, home of the Denver Bears baseball team; and then later Merchants Park Shopping Center, which opened in 1951, with an appearance by Hopalong Cassidy [Rocky Mountain News, Sept 21, 1951, p.23] The shopping center had a Walgreen Drugs, Miller's Supermarket, and a Joslin's Department Store, which opened on March 21, 1952. North of Merchants Park was a huge warehouse and retailing operation of Montgomery Ward.

Development

Broadway Plaza Shopping Center was the idea of Allan S. Reiver, a Denver real estate developer, who had redeveloped a number of historic buildings in downtown Denver. Influenced by the high-flying 80s, he envisioned Broadway Plaza as a high-end shopping destination, despite it being built in a working class and industrial neighborhood. Reiver's company Realities, Inc. signed a contract to develop Printemps locations around the United States, the first being at Broadway Plaza. Reiver's partner at Broadway Plaza, former Atlantic Richfield Co CEO Robert O. Anderson, played a major part in convincing Printemps to locate in Denver. [Denver Post March 31, 1986 p.C-1] . Land for the giant project was purchased in 1984 with financing from Red Hill Savings, a division of Hill Financial of Red Hill, Pa.

The shopping center was to have three components: Printemps and the International Collection of boutique stores; the Denver Design Center, and an office building renovated from the Montgomery Ward complex. The shopping center opened in late 1986, and by late 1987, numerous smaller stores were closing in the International Collection, despite being offered free rent before the opening of Printempts.

Printemps

Printemps opened November 6, 1987, and saw much traffic for its beginning months. As business slowed, a double-decker bus was put into operation to shuttle shoppers from downtown. The department store closed in April, 1989. Before closing, the owners attempted to sell the Denver franchise itself as well as rights for future stores in the United States. Retailing experts saw the failure of the store as being due to the price point of the merchandise and its location; Cherry Creek Shopping Center, which was being rebuilt at that time, might have been a better location for Printemps; this was a common opinion even before Broadway Plaza was built.

Restructuring

In mid-1988, during the decline of Printemps and high vacancies in the project, Reiver lost control of Broadway Plaza and the Printemps store. Hill Financial forced Reiver to sell his interest in the project to a new partnership, Western Equities, which renamed the project Broadway InterPlaza. The investment at Broadway Plaza was one investment that led to the 80s S&L failure of Hill Financial. [ test foot note]

Today

After the department store closed, the space was used for a short period as an event center, before being occupied by Quest Diagnostics. Part of the International Collection is now used by the culinary arts program of the Art Institute of Colorado. The Montgomery Ward building was torn down on February 14, 1993, and replaced by a development called Broadway Marketplace, a collection of big-box retailers, such as K-Mart, Office Max, Sam's Club, and an Albertson's grocery store. Broadway Marketplace was initially developed by Homart (the real estate development arm of Sears), along with the Denver Urban Renewal Authority (DURA).

culpture

A signature sculpture named Articulated Wall by artist Herbert Bayer is located at the complex, bordering highway I-25. The work was dedicated in July 1995, and belongs to the Denver Art Museum.

External links

* [http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?10022497+X-22497] , Picture of Merchant's Park from Denver Public Library. Montgomery Ward building is beyond it.

References and Notes