The Shops at Hilltop, formerly known as Hilltop Mall, was a regional shopping center in the Hilltop neighborhood of Richmond, California. Hilltop is managed and co-owned by Prologis, Inc. The anchor store is Walmart. There are 3 vacant anchor stores that were once Macy's, JCPenney and Sears.
History
According to former Richmond City Councilmember Nat Bates, the earliest proposal to develop a new shopping center in Richmond would have built it in downtown Richmond, along the northern side of Macdonald between 10th and 14th streets, stretching to Nevin; the Taubman Company proposed an alternate site on Tank Farm Hill in North Richmond, so named because it previously was occupied by an oil storage tank farm owned by the Chevron Corporation. Black community leaders overwhelmingly preferred the downtown site and it was assumed the three Black councilmembers would vote to support the downtown proposal. Taubman spoke privately to Bates, letting him know they would withdraw the Hilltop proposal unless they received at least one of the three votes, adding they would then build the shopping mall in a neighboring city. Bates, fearful of losing the sales tax revenue, made a motion and voted to support the Hilltop site.
Hilltop Mall opened in September 1976. The mall was developed by A. Alfred Taubman, who also developed several other shopping malls in the East and South Bay Area, including Eastridge Center in San Jose, Stoneridge Shopping Center in Pleasanton, and Sunvalley Mall in Concord. Originally, it was anchored by red-tiled Capwell's, JCPenney and Macy's. Both Macy's and JCPenney originally had stores in downtown Richmond, but while Macy's had closed its downtown store a couple of years earlier, JCPenney kept its downtown store open for a year after Hilltop opened. Capwell's changed its name to Emporium-Capwell in 1979, before becoming simply The Emporium in 1990. Sears was added in 1990 in a newly built north wing addition, which was an expansion of this property.
Once opened, the mall attracted the major anchor stores from Richmond's downtown, with several major national chain stores closing downtown locations, although many acknowledge that the trend predated Hilltop due to economic and safety issues.
The Hilltop Mall Cinemas, operated by Plitt Theatres, opened in the mall on August 25, 1976, showing first-run films on a four-screen multiplex; four more screens were added upstairs in 1988 after being taken over by Cineplex Odeon. The Hilltop 8 closed in the mid-1990s after shifting to a second-run, discount film model, and the space is now part of the 24 Hour Fitness. The Century 16 Hilltop was opened in 2001, in the Hilltop Plaza power center east of the mall.
1996: Emporium closes
The mall remained largely unchanged until 1996, when the Emporium store closed following its merger with Federated, who owned Macy's. The store remained vacant until October 1998, when Macy's refurbished and relocated their existing store into the former Emporium space and closed the original Macy's store. The former Macy's space would remain vacant until Walmart took over the space in Spring 2007.
1998: Sale to GM Pension Trust
The GM Pension Trust assumed full ownership of Hilltop Mall in 1998, retaining Taubman Centers as manager. In 2004, the GM Pension Trust sold a half-interest in a portfolio of shopping centers, including Hilltop, to The Mills Corporation, which also assumed management of the center. After several years of delay, Walmart opened on April 11, 2007 on the site Macy's vacated in 1998.
2007: Sale to Simon Property Group
In July 2007, Simon Property Group purchased the entire Mills Corporation portfolio, including other Bay Area properties: Stoneridge Shopping Center in Pleasanton, California and Great Mall in Milpitas, California. On December 23, 2011, a shopping frenzy over retro Air Jordan shoes resulted in temporary closure of the mall after shots were fired. The mall later reopened, but sales of the shoe were banned for the day. Similar events occurred at the nearby Westfield Solano and the Bayfair Center malls in Fairfield and San Leandro, respectively.
2012: Loan default
In August 2012, Greg Maloney, president of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Retail, was appointed receiver by the Contra Costa Superior Court to assume management of the property due to Simon's loan default. JLL retained Michael Piazzola as its managing receiver. The property was foreclosed upon in June 2013, and Jones Lang LaSalle was retained as the manager post-foreclosure.