Talk:Springfield Mall (Virginia)/Lists

Notable events

• November 11, 1985, visit by Prince Charles and Princess Diana to see the "Best of Britain" promotion at the mall's J.C. Penney department store, during a much-publicized trip to the U.S.

• August 10, 1987, Intersection near Springfield Mall, Fairfax's Most Dangerous in 1986.

• June 25, 1988, Intersection near Springfield Mall, Fairfax's Most Dangerous in 1987.

• March 5, 1993, Springfield Mall's smoking ban, acting on its own, area's first ban.

• June 29, 1997, opening of the Franconia-Springfield Metro Station.

• Springfield Mall is listed as a job site where Asbestos exposure occurred.

• June 23, 2010, the Virginia's DMV Express office relocated to Gunston Plaza in Lorton, VA.

• July 23, 2010, Springfield Mall area ranks as one of the most hazardous for pedestrians in the region, according to Fairfax County officials. Missing links of sidewalk, deterioration of sidewalks, crosswalks strips faded and need repainting, broken pedestrian crosswalk buttons and long wait time after pushing crosswalk buttons (up to 90-120 seconds).

Serious Crime

• According to the Fairfax County Police Department; theft, vehicle break-ins and vehicle theft are a common occurrence at and around the Springfield Mall. The two Fairfax County Police officers permanently assigned to the mall are “pretty busy with shoplifters, violent crimes. It's a location that generates a lot of calls for service,” said Lt. Dan Janickey, assistant commander of the Franconia District Station.

• According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) the mall has primarily experienced gang-related activity from two Latino street gangs the Mara Salvatrucha "MS-13" and the South Side Loco "Sureños" and occasionally two Asian gangs the Asian Dragon Family and the Oriental Playboys "OBP".

• January 15, 1987, shut down a pair of Pizza Delight restaurants when they were found to be among several hubs for the Sicilian Mafia's east coast cocaine-distribution ring.

• December 7, 1996, two carjackers arrested after 3 prior incidents of carjackings by gunpoint at the mall. One of the carjackers wrote a book and talks about the carjacking with The New Yorker.

• September 4, 1997, Man shoots wife then self.

• August 1, 2001, two of the hijackers in the September 11, 2001 attacks, Hani Hanjour and Khalid Almihdhar whom flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon, illegally obtained state identifications from the Springfield Mall's DMV Express office.

• December 2002, fatal gang shooting.

• March 12, 2003, Abduction of two children only a few days apart.

• July 7, 2004, carjacking of a 64-year-old woman.

• November 12, 2004, Shots fired at Springfield Mall Security Guards.

• October 2005, two gang-related stabbings.

• November 29, 2005, gang related stabbing, four Hispanic gang members confronted three other Hispanics in the mall's food court.

• December 27, 2006, Stabbing at Springfield Mall.

• December 2, 2007, two fatal gang shootings both where related but hours apart.

• April 16, 2008, Illegal immigration raid of the massage salon "Healthwise" by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E), ten Asian employees all illegal aliens where arrested and deported. Later on April 22, 2008, the unlicensed business was shutdown and four were arrested for operating without Massage Licenses.

• July 28, 2008, Armed Robbery at Springfield Mall, four arrested.

• September 13, 2008, carjacked and abducted a 61-year-old woman during rush hour, woman killed when the suspects crashed her car during police pursuit.

• June 13, 2009, Attempted carjacking

• September 2. 2009, man mugged by four men in Macy's parking garage.

• March 11, 2010, 63-year-old man mugged, two suspects seen fleeing on a Metro train.

Redevelopment (start date unknown)

Vornado had proposed to invest an additional $100 million to turn the mall into a "life-style center" with 1.1 million square feet of office space, 2,20 apartments, and a 225-room hotel. In the meantime, the occupancy rate has dropped to 63%.

• November 1, 2005, intent to purchase and redevelop the mall announced by Vornado.

• April 2006, preliminary plans announced to redevelop the mall and surrounding area, into a town-center with a mix of retail, offices, and apartments.

• May 2006, Government study submitted to report opportunities and challenges to the revitalization in mall area by Fairfax County Urban Land Institute (ULI) Advisory panel.

• June 26, 2006, Government planning authorized for the Springfield Mall and surrounding area. Government failed to perform traffic study, which will later hold up approval of the project.

• Two Years of Planning; Government and Corporate.

• February 14, 2008, AMC movie theater closed.

• June 12, 2008, Plans submitted to Government for mixed-use town center.

• September, 22, 2008, Website posted for the Springfield Mall Redevelopment located at: http://www.springfieldtowncenter.com (now defunct). The website developer has images of the now defunct site on their website http://www.scalellc.com/work/springfield/

• October 30, 2008, Government delay, request to emphasize on the language for transit and pedestrian features by the Fairfax County Planning Commission

• November 17, 2008, Government delay until Traffic Impact Analysis is performed, Third request to VDOT by the Fairfax Country. Fairfax County resubmitted the paperwork three times to VDOT, for VDOT to perform the traffic analysis.

• February 12, 2009, final update of redevelopment plan submitted to the Fairfax Country Board of Directors.

• April 30, 2009, Government delay, to allow time for the Government review of Proffers.

• May 18, 2009, Government delay until an agreement on Proffers, between the Government, mall owner and all three anchor stores.

Springfield Mall proffers include:

-- Artificial turf field at Robert E. Lee High School (work completed in 2009).

-- Pedestrian Improvements from Mall to the Metro station; to include bike lanes, cross-walks, and sidewalks with grass separation from road.

-- $600,000 to Lee District Park.

-- $210,000 per year, to create and fund a Regional Circulator Bus Transporation Service.

• July 13, 2009, Government Approval given of the redevelopment plan, after a year of government deliberation.

• July 2009, Since July 2008, over 60 stores have closed. With exception to the large anchor stores, most all of the name brand stores have left; which includes the following: Aéropostale, AMC Movie Theaters, A&W, American Café, Bally Total Fitness, Bennigan's, Boardwalk Fries, Borders, Brookstone, Cinnabon, CVS, Ethan Allen, Frank and Stein, F.Y.E., GAP, GAP Kids, KB Toys, Lane Bryant, Lady Foot Locker, Linens 'n Things, Pizza Xpress, Pizza Hut Express, Subway, Sports Authority, Ruby Tuesday, Wolf Camera

• January 2009, removal of carousel and the play structure by the old movie theater. The mall will be redeveloped and have its name changed to the "Springfield Town Center".

• Spring 2009, construction originally expected to begin, the announcement was made in January by Fairfax County. Time frame passed no word on new construction start date.

• December 2009, Project Director left the project; Phil Ricardi of Sordoni Construction.

• December 2009, Website removed for the Springfield Mall Redevelopment located at: http://www.springfieldtowncenter.com (now defunct). The website developer has images of the now defunct site on their website http://www.scalellc.com/work/springfield/

• December 4, 2009, Mall's loan in default after refusal to pay, the loans has been turned over to a special servicer. From the article: "According to Trepp, a New York-based commercial mortgage information and analysis firm, the property was 67 percent occupied and had a debt service coverage ratio of .26 as of June 30. A ratio of less than 1 means negative cash flow."

• March 24, 2010, No agreement made to restructure the Mall's loan. Loan continues to be in default. The loan's special servicer C.W. Capital reports the property is only 39 percent occupied.

• April 4, 2010, Dead mall label and becoming of suburban visual blight describes popular public perception of the Springfield Mall due to its deteriorated dated look, substantial vacancy rate, failure to perform scheduled renovations, failure to fix issues with their leaky roof, deterioration of roads, sidewalks and crosswalks, broken pedestrian push buttons at traffic lights, confusing traffic patterns, reputation for crime, and their lack of ability to fix their image as a "Time Forgotten, eerily empty mall". The Washington Post has created a map of the Springfield Mall showing vacant store space.

• June 10, 2010, more than a 60 percent drop in value of the Springfield Mall.

• August 2010, renovations performed by two independently owned anchor stores Target and J.C. Penny. Both J.C Penny and Target own the land their stores sit on, and operate independently from the rest of mall. Vornado, the owner of the mall, made no commitment to any renovations of their own.

• August 6, 2010, bank located in mall closed; Capital One Bank; now part of Chevy Chase Bank.

• August 20, 2010, Mall nears foreclosure. The two companies holding their loan are both seeking receivership or foreclosure, after discussions with Vornado did not yield an agreement for payback.

• October 7, 2010, Sale of the Mall loan by bid began, minimum $114 million bid. The Springfield Mall's loan debt is $160 million. New loan owner to be selected on November 12, 2010.

• November 20, 2010, New financier not found to take ownership of the mall's loan. Springfield Mall is being foreclosed on by LNR Property Corp and CWCapital Asset Management LLC, unless another financer agrees to purchase the loan from them, or if the mall owner agrees to make payment on the loan.

• November 24, 2010, Mall owner Vornado purchased land from J.C. Penney which only includes the parking garage and auto repair facility, note J.C. Penney still owns the land of their store. The Mall's Loan is still for sale by the financial company holding the loan.

• December 17, 2010, After a year in default, Vornado Realty Trust paid $115 million to buy the mall's mortgage loan; Vornado originally had an outstanding balance of $171.5 million.

• December 20, 2010, redevelopment expected to begin in the first quarter 2011. Two years after originally expected to begin, Spring 2009. And 5 1/2 years since the first announcement to redevelop the mall.

Currently, Vornado has not released any new plans or dates publicly; they have not held any public meetings, posted any signs or reestablished their redevelopment website at http://www.springfieldtowncenter.com/. Also, Vornado no longer has an architect or any development staff after letting the staff go in December of 2009. The current start date is from Fairfax government official Jeff McKay, which is an overly optimistic and unlikely start date.