As of mid-December, Dewberry had completed demolition of the old mall building.  This view is looking north from near the Garden Center:

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The Northside News for November, 1999 reports the following:

Eventually something’s going to be built out there. We just want to know what," said Frank Thornton, Henrico's Fairfield District supervisor. On December 1, representatives of Dewberry Corporation, the current Azalea Mall property owners, came to Richmond to inspect the demolition and meet with community leaders.

Word had spread recently that Dewberry was considering turning the property into apartments. But according to David Shanahan, vice president of development for Dewberry, there are no plans for residential development for the Azalea Mall property - at least right now. "Some number of years from now if there's property left over, maybe,, says Shanahan.

Shanahan says demolition of Azalea Mall will be completed by Christmas, and that Dewberry Corporation plans to keep the property a retail space. "I am presently working on putting together a shopping center I am talking to tenants right now. We are actively marketing this,' says Shanahan. Exactly what that shopping center looks like - I can't tell you yet. That's essentially determined by who the tenants are"

Dewberry Corporation will build for the large tenants who commit to the space, but Shanahan says that Dewberry does have a concept in mind for the retail property. "We have parameters. Our first primary focus is a neighborhood shopping center. That's where the interest is. All of which is subject to change, says Shanahan.

Bill Johnson, Richmond's Third District representative, is trying to anticipate any move by Dewberry. Johnson is currently determining the exact ownership boundaries of the property. "We have part of the properties in the city of Richmond, but do we own it? If we own it, I'm going to try to get proactive,” says Johnson. If possible, Johnson wants to develop the slice of land on Westbrook Avenue. His ideas so far include making Westbrook Avenue a four-lane road with a median, rebuilding the public library, and possibly developing the rest of the land as a neighborhood shopping center like Bellevue. This would create a buffer against whatever Dewberry builds.

Shanahan, who was among the Dewberry representatives who met with community leaders on December 1, says that Dewberry Corporation is interested in cooperating with the Richmond and Henrico communities around the Azalea Mall property. "They've [the communities] really been very cooperative and have offered to help in a lot of ways," he says. [Azalea Mall] is a huge opportunity for the neighborhood and it's a huge opportunity for us.

Thornton, before his meeting with Dewberry Corporation, was cautious. I don't even know what [Dewberry] expects to do. We want to make sure they do the right thing" says Thornton. 

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At the general meeting of the Civic Association on Dec. 7, 1999, Mike McLaughlin reported that Dewberry has changed its mind and that he intends to stay in his present location.  We sure hope that works out.

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Our President didn't get much of a response to his nice letter to Dewberry:

From: <epes1@mindspring.com>
To: <%20JohnRButcher@attbi.com%20>
Subject: Re: Dewberry
Date: Thursday, October 21, 1999 10:17 PM

i received brief note from dewberry today, saying he was just taking garden center up on its offer to leave if he didn't reduce the rent. he didn't mention coming to our dec. meeting. i take that means no.

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From the Oct. 20 issue of Style Magazine we learn that Dewberry has elected to break our hearts by running out Mike and Mary Ann and the kids from the Garden Center.  The former version of Dewberry's Azalea Square (all talk and no action) was preferable to this destructive behavior.  Here is the letter our President wrote to Dewberry about the matter:

October 12, 1999

John K. Dewberry
Dewberry Capital Corp.
2849 Paces Ferry Road
Suite 350
Atlanta, Ga. 30339

Dear Mr. Dewberry,

 The Bellevue Civic Association, which represents the residential neighborhood of 1,400 households immediately adjacent to Azalea Mall in Richmond, Va., is greatly disappointed to learn of your decision to expel the Azalea Garden Center from the mall property. Mike McLaughlin, the owner of Azalea Garden Center, has been a good neighbor and a good merchant, and the loss of this business is a serious blow to our neighborhood and the many residents who have loyally supported the Garden Center and other mall merchants for years.

 What is more distressing, however, is the apparent breach of faith exhibited by this action. Many of us heard you assure the community last year that Mike and other remaining mall merchants were welcome to stay as long as they like, that as owner and developer of the mall you wanted these businesses to remain and had no intention of ousting them. You also have been quoted in the Richmond press making similar assurances. However, with your decision to force the Garden Center out, your public assurances now seem disingenuous. Please explain the abrupt reversal in policy. What has prompted this decision? What can you tell the hundreds of residents and customers living adjacent to Azalea Mall that might restore their trust in you and your company?

 Again, we are very disappointed to learn of this turn of events, which has left many residents questioning your credibility. The Bellevue Civic Association would welcome an opportunity to honestly and frankly discuss the situation and your plans for the Azalea Mall property. If you agree this would be beneficial, the association’s next neighborhood meeting is scheduled for December 7 at 7 p.m. and would be an excellent forum. If you or a Dewberry representative can attend, please let me know and I will notify other nearby civic associations of the meeting so they may participate as well.

 I look forward to hearing from you.

 Sincerely,

 Chuck Epes
 President, Bellevue Civic Association
 4028 Chevy Chase Street
 Richmond, Va. 23227
 (804) 264-7123

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So far the purchaser of Azalea Mall has been all hat and no cattle.  The lights don't even work all the time, but there have been plenty of "plans" for the property.  The latest emerged above the fold in the Business section on the Times-Dispatch on September 4, 1999.  There the paper quotes Steven Franco, director of the retail properties group for Dewberry Capital Corp., the owner of the property: "It's an eyesore right now."  No dispute about that.

The paper says the owner "wants to begin tearing down the center soon."  Turns out, however, Dewberry has not applied to Henrico for the required permit.  It's hard to see any difference between this "plan" and the "hope[] to demolish" from April.

So again we have talk but no action.  If these folks were selling software we would call it "vaporware."

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The previous "plan" was reported in the April 1999 edition of the Northside News, with an authoritative-sounding but anonymous article.  On close reading, the latest "plan" appears to be nothing more than a drawing and a "fact sheet":

[Sorry about the quality of the picture; it's the best we could do with the scanner and the copy in the Northside News.  The street along the bottom is Brook Rd.; the street on the left side is Westbrook.  There is writing in the dark areas, but it is not readable in the paper, much less here.]

The Real Azalea Mall Plan

Some local media apparently jumped the gun and ran architectural renderings of a multi-story; glass enclosed mall to be built on the site of Azalea Mall. That is not what the developer and owner of Azalea Mall is planning to do with the site.

[If, as it appears, Dewberry is the source of both drawings, what is it that would cause us to take the new drawing any more seriously than the first one?]

At this juncture, and John Dewberry points out that all plans at this time are subject to change, the Atlanta-based developer hopes to demolish the existing mall and bowling alley; grade the land and build three large anchor space linked by a number of smaller specialty shops. The total square footage of the project is right around 400,000 square feet. According to a fact sheet the proposed mail, to be called Azalea Square, will be an "open-air, multi-anchored regional shopping center"

Dewberry notes that no tenants have yet signed contracts, though a number of retailers have shown interest in the site. "Nothing is concrete at this time," says Dewberry; "We would like to take it [Azalea Square] to an upscale venue. Our center there is going to be very nice."

[So, "subject to change," the "plan" consists of Dewberry's "hopes to demolish," no tenants, one drawing, and one "fact sheet."  Some plan.]

Sometime later this spring, Dewberry anticipates awarding bids for the costly demolition of the existing mail. In the past, that cost was estimated at $1 million, in part because of asbestos abatement. "Then we'll grade the property;" says Dewberry; "I believe we will break ground for the new mall in the spring of 2000."

Dewberry wants to allow Azalea Mall Garden Center to continue operating out of the mail site. "We'd like to work with Mike McLaughlin," he says. "He's a great guy and it's a good business"

[Let's all hope that Dewbery's "want" and "like" prove to be more durable than his "plans" so far have been.  Mike and Mary Ann are a resource to our neighborhood.]

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Here are the earlier drawing and story from the March 15 Biz Buzz section of the Times-Dispatch:

Azalea Mall to all-new Azalea Square planned

It looks as if there are some big plans under way for the mostly vacant Azalea Mall, the area's first enclosed shopping center.

The Atlanta developer who bought the mall last year plans to tear it down and build a 420,000-square-foot shopping center. It would open in mid-2000.

The new center would be called Azalea Square.

Dewberry Capital Corp. has sent to real estate brokers an impressive prospectus about the company's plans, including artists' renderings.

Details for Azalea Square are still sketchy. But the information from the company said it is talking and formalizing commitments with three apparel anchors, a megaplex movie theater, a grocery anchor, a linens/craft store and a bookstore.

Dewberry's owner is John K. Dewberry, a former Georgia Tech quarterback. His company has about $200 million in revenue and owns more than 2 million square feet of retail space in cities throughout the South.

Revitalizing Azalea Mall will be a challenge, area real estate sources say. A variety of deals to sell the mall or to revive it have fallen through in the past couple of years.

Most of the businesses in the mall closed in early 1996. A couple of businesses, such as Azalea Mall Garden Center, still operate on the property.

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Last updated 02/24/02
Please send questions or comments to John Butcher