Northland Center
A pioneering suburban shopping center in Southfield, Michigan, that helped establish the postwar regional-mall model in the United States.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
Northland Center was a major shopping center in Southfield, Michigan, a suburb immediately north of Detroit. Developed by Detroit department-store company J. L. Hudson Company and designed by architect Victor Gruen, it opened on March 22, 1954, after construction began in 1952. The approximately 159-acre project was the first of four directional suburban shopping centers planned around Detroit by Hudson's; Eastland, Southland, and Westland followed. Northland was conceived as a response to postwar suburbanization and the growing use of automobiles for shopping. At opening, it was widely described as one of the largest and most ambitious shopping centers in the world and became a nationally recognized example of planned suburban retail development. The original Northland was not an enclosed mall in the later conventional sense. Its principal Hudson's department store occupied the center of a landscaped complex, with a ring of smaller buildings and pedestrian circulation around it. The design incorporated plazas, fountains, sculptures, extensive landscaping, public amenities, auditoriums, a theater, a bank, a post office, an infirmary, and facilities for lost children. Delivery and service activity was separated from shoppers through a substantial underground tunnel network containing service rooms, storage areas, workshops, and, at one point, a designated civil-defense shelter. The center initially attracted a broad collection of Detroit-area retailers, restaurants, specialty stores, and service businesses. Northland was enclosed in 1975, when J. C. Penney also joined the center as an anchor. Further changes reflected the evolution of American shopping centers and department-store retailing. MainStreet, a short-lived Federated Department Stores chain, opened in 1985 and was subsequently converted to Kohl's. T.J. Maxx and a food court were added in 1991, Montgomery Ward opened in 1994, and Target opened in 1996. A family-entertainment venue operated at the property from 1999 until 2012. These additions could not fully offset increasing competition from newer Detroit-area destinations such as Somerset Collection, Fairlane Town Center, and Twelve Oaks Mall, nor the broader structural problems facing traditional department stores. The center lost anchors and tenants progressively. Kohl's left in 1995, Montgomery Ward closed in 1998 amid the chain's financial difficulties, J. C. Penney departed in 2000, and T.J. Maxx closed in 2004. National Wholesale Liquidators occupied the former Montgomery Ward space from 2005 until 2008. Target renovated and expanded its location in 2007, adding amenities including a pharmacy, Starbucks, and Pizza Hut, but announced a closure in late 2014; the store shut in February 2015. Macy's, the successor to the original Hudson's operation, closed on March 22, 2015, exactly 61 years after the center opened. With only a small number of inline tenants remaining, Northland officially closed on April 15, 2015. Ownership and financial difficulties accelerated the transition from retail center to redevelopment site. Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation acquired the property in 2008. After a reported default on a $31 million payment in 2014, Spinoso Real Estate Group was appointed receiver. The City of Southfield purchased the property in October 2015 and began pursuing demolition and redevelopment options. Demolition commenced in 2017, and the city later marketed the site as a potential location for Amazon's second headquarters, although Amazon selected another Detroit-area site. In July 2021, Southfield sold the property to Contour Companies. Most of the remaining mall was demolished beginning in September 2021 for a proposed Northland City Center redevelopment combining housing, retail, food, entertainment, and office uses. Plans called for preserving and reusing the former Hudson's building and constructing a large number of rental residences. Northland Center therefore survives primarily as a landmark in retail and suburban-planning history and as the physical basis for a mixed-use redevelopment project rather than as an operating shopping mall.
History
Northland Center emerged from J. L. Hudson Company's response to the rapid suburbanization of metropolitan Detroit after the Second World War. Hudson's was a major Detroit department-store chain whose flagship occupied a prominent position downtown. In 1948, architect Victor Gruen persuaded the company to consider a network of suburban shopping centers encircling Detroit's inner suburbs. Northland was the first of the four planned directional centers, ahead of Eastland, Southland, and Westland. Construction began in 1952 on an approximately 159-acre site near the intersection of Greenfield Road and M-10, also known as the John C. Lodge Freeway, in Southfield. The center opened on March 22, 1954, following an investment reported in contemporary accounts at approximately $30 million. Its opening received extensive national attention because it presented a new model of coordinated suburban retailing. Rather than reproducing a downtown street, the project placed a large Hudson's store within a carefully planned pedestrian environment of smaller shops, plazas, fountains, sculptures, landscaping, and civic-style amenities. The original scheme was open-air, with multiple structures arranged around the central department store. The opening tenant mix combined Hudson's with local clothing, footwear, specialty, furniture, grocery, drugstore, confectionery, restaurant, and service businesses. The property also included a theater, playhouse, bank, post office, infirmary, lost-children office, and other customer services. Its separated service infrastructure was particularly extensive. A system of underground tunnels, several miles in total length and containing hundreds of rooms, supported deliveries, storage, workshops, and other operational needs. Part of the network was also associated with civil-defense planning and served at one time as a nuclear-bomb shelter. The tunnels helped keep trucks and other back-of-house activity away from the public pedestrian areas. Northland's design made Victor Gruen an influential figure in the development of American shopping centers. However, Gruen later criticized the commercial excesses and poorly planned imitations that followed the shopping-center boom. His changing view of suburban malls became part of Northland's broader historical significance: the project represented both the promise of carefully designed postwar community-oriented retail and the eventual spread of automobile-dependent commercial development. The center changed substantially in the 1970s. In 1975 it was enclosed, aligning it with the increasingly dominant regional-mall format, and J. C. Penney joined Hudson's as an anchor. MainStreet, a Federated Department Stores concept, opened in 1985. When that chain was discontinued, its location was converted to Kohl's in 1989. Northland added T.J. Maxx and a food court in 1991, Montgomery Ward in November 1994, and Target in April 1996. A Jeepers! family-entertainment venue opened in 1999 and later closed in 2012. The 1980s and 1990s also brought greater competitive pressure. Newer centers, including Somerset Collection, Fairlane Town Center, and Twelve Oaks Mall, offered updated facilities and, in some cases, a more upscale tenant mix. Northland experienced repeated anchor turnover: Kohl's left in 1995, Montgomery Ward closed in 1998 as its parent chain faced financial problems, J. C. Penney departed in 2000, and T.J. Maxx closed in 2004. National Wholesale Liquidators took over the former Montgomery Ward space in 2005 but left in 2008. Target attempted to strengthen its position by renovating and expanding its store in 2007. The work added or improved amenities including a pharmacy, Starbucks, and Pizza Hut. Nevertheless, Target announced in November 2014 that the store would close as part of a nationwide group of closures; it shut in February 2015. Macy's, which had succeeded Hudson's through the department-store chain's later corporate changes, announced its own closure. The store ended operations on March 22, 2015, precisely sixty-one years after the original Hudson's opening. Northland officially closed on April 15, 2015, with only a few inline stores remaining. The property's ownership history became increasingly linked to financial distress and redevelopment. Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation purchased Northland in December 2008. After the owner defaulted on a reported $31 million payment in 2014, Spinoso Real Estate Group was appointed receiver. In October 2015, the City of Southfield purchased the property for a reported $2.5 million and began planning for demolition and reuse. Southfield later proposed the site during Amazon's search for a second headquarters, but Amazon selected the former Michigan State Fairgrounds site in Detroit instead. Demolition began in October 2017. In July 2021, Southfield sold the property to Contour Companies. Additional demolition started in September 2021 for the proposed Northland City Center project. Plans described a mixed-use redevelopment with approximately 1,546 rental apartments in new five- and six-story buildings, plus roughly 254 loft-style residences within the retained shell surrounding the former Hudson's structure. The historic Hudson's building was proposed for conversion into a large food-and-goods marketplace, with food, entertainment, home furnishings, local businesses, and office space. The redevelopment marked the property's transition from an operating shopping center into a housing- and mixed-use urban-reinvestment site.
- 2021
Contour Companies acquires the site
[1]Southfield sold the property to Contour Companies in July.
- 2021
Northland City Center demolition and redevelopment phase
[1]Further demolition began in September for a proposed mixed-use project centered on housing and reuse of the former Hudson's building.
- 2017
Initial demolition begins
[1]Demolition started with portions including the former Target structure.
- 2015
Retail operations end
[1]Macy's closed on March 22, and Northland formally closed on April 15.
- 2015
Southfield purchases the site
[1]The city acquired the property and began pursuing demolition and redevelopment.
- 2008
Ashkenazy acquires the property
[1]Northland was sold to Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation.
- 1996
Target opens
[1]Target opened at the west end of the center in April.
- 1994
Montgomery Ward opens
[1]Montgomery Ward opened at Northland in November.
- 1991
T.J. Maxx and food court added
[1]The property expanded its off-price and dining offerings with T.J. Maxx and a food court.
- 1985
MainStreet opens
[1]Federated's MainStreet chain opened at Northland and was later converted to Kohl's.
Products and positioning
A landmark, automobile-oriented suburban shopping center that combined a major department store with landscaped pedestrian space, specialty retail, public amenities, and later enclosed-mall conveniences. In its later years, it was positioned as a conventional regional mall but struggled against newer and more upscale Detroit-area shopping destinations.
Department store · 1954
Hudson's department store
Hudson's was Northland's original and defining anchor. The four-level store was operated by Detroit-based J. L. Hudson Company and provided broad department-store merchandise, including apparel, home goods, and general retail products. Its central placement shaped the original pedestrian plan and made the center an early example of a suburban shopping destination organized around a major urban department-store chain.
Department store
Macy's department store
Macy's operated in the former Hudson's anchor building during Northland's final period as a shopping mall. It represented the continuation of the original department-store anchor through successive corporate and brand changes. Macy's closed the location on March 22, 2015, eliminating the property's last major anchor and accelerating the mall's final closure.
Shopping center · 1954
Northland specialty-retail complex
Northland's broader offering combined department stores with local specialty retailers, clothing and footwear shops, furniture, groceries, drugstore services, restaurants, confectionery, banking, postal services, entertainment, and later discount retail. Its public-facing design added plazas, fountains, sculptures, landscaping, and pedestrian areas, making the complex more than a simple collection of stores.
Mixed-use redevelopment · 2021
Northland City Center
Northland City Center is the proposed redevelopment of the former mall site. Plans described a housing-led project with new rental buildings, loft-style apartments incorporated into the retained shell of the original Hudson's complex, and a large food-and-goods marketplace combining dining, entertainment, home furnishings, local businesses, and offices.
Brand decisions
2021
Launch Northland City Center redevelopmentStrategyBackground
After the mall's closure and years of partial demolition, the site was repositioned for a large mixed-use project rather than renewed conventional retail operations.
Action taken
Contour Companies acquired the property, and demolition began for a proposed housing-led redevelopment retaining the former Hudson's building.
Aftermath
The proposed project shifted Northland's identity from regional mall to mixed-use residential, retail, food, entertainment, and office district.
Proposed redevelopment investment. $403 million (2021 redevelopment plan)
2015
Transition from mall operations to public-led redevelopmentStrategyBackground
The loss of Target and Macy's left Northland with few remaining tenants, while the property's ownership faced financial problems.
Action taken
Southfield purchased the property and pursued demolition, reuse, and redevelopment options.
Aftermath
The site entered a long redevelopment process that included initial demolition in 2017 and a later sale to Contour Companies.
Property purchase price. $2.5 million (October 7, 2015)
2007
Renovate and expand the Target storeStrategyBackground
Northland was losing anchors and needed stronger day-to-day retail traffic. Target remained one of the property's major tenants.
Action taken
Target renovated and expanded its interior and exterior space, adding a pharmacy, Starbucks, and Pizza Hut.
Aftermath
Target later announced the store's closure in 2014 and shut it in February 2015.
1975
Convert the open-air center into an enclosed mallStrategyBackground
By the 1970s, enclosed regional malls had become an increasingly influential format in American retail. Northland adapted its original open-air design while adding another department-store anchor.
Action taken
The center was enclosed, and J. C. Penney was added as an anchor.
Aftermath
The change modernized Northland for the period but did not prevent later tenant turnover and competition from newer malls.
Recent events
- 2021
Contour Companies acquires Northland redevelopment site[1]
M&A
Southfield sold the property to Contour Companies as the site moved toward a large mixed-use redevelopment.
- 2021
Major demolition begins for Northland City Center[1]
Other
Further demolition began in September to make way for a proposed housing-led redevelopment that would retain and reuse the original Hudson's building.
- 2017
Demolition begins at Northland[1]
Other
Initial demolition work began, with the former Target building and Firestone tire-center structure among the first portions removed.
- 2015
Macy's closes the final anchor[1]
Other
Macy's closed on March 22, 2015, the sixty-first anniversary of the former Hudson's store's opening. Northland Center formally closed the following month.
- 2015
City of Southfield purchases Northland property[1]
M&A
Southfield acquired the property with plans to remove most of the obsolete mall structures and seek redevelopment opportunities.
- 2014
Spinoso Real Estate Group becomes receiver after payment default[1]
Bankruptcy
Following Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation's reported default on a $31 million payment, Spinoso Real Estate Group was appointed receiver.
- 2014
Target and Macy's announce closures[1]
Product launch · Other
Target announced that its Northland store would close, followed by Macy's announcement that it would end operations at the property in March 2015.
- 2008
Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation acquires Northland[1]
M&A
The shopping center was sold to New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation.
- 1996
Target opens at Northland[1]
Product launch
Target opened a new store at the west end of the property, adding a large-format discount anchor to the mall.
- 1991
Northland adds T.J. Maxx and a food court[1]
Product launch
The center expanded its tenant mix with an off-price retailer and food-court facilities as regional malls adapted to changing shopping patterns.
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