Easton Town Center

Easton Town Center
The Center's Current Logo
Location Columbus, Ohio
Coordinates 40°3′7″N 82°54′55″W / 40.05194°N 82.91528°W / 40.05194; -82.91528Coordinates: 40°3′7″N 82°54′55″W / 40.05194°N 82.91528°W / 40.05194; -82.91528
Opening date 1999
No. of stores and services 240
No. of anchor tenants 2
Total retail floor area 1,643,348 square feet (152,672.0 m2)
No. of floors Macy's, Nordstrom, and Station Building are 2, some retail/office buildings in North and South districts are 2-4 floors
Website https://eastontowncenter.com/

Easton Town Center ("Easton") is an indoor and outdoor shopping complex in northeast Columbus, Ohio, United States. The core buildings and streets that comprise Easton are intended to look like a self-contained "town", reminiscent of American towns and cities in the early-to-mid 20th century. Included in the design are fountains, streets laid out in a grid pattern surrounded by a continuous loop, and metered storefront parking. A variety of stores, restaurants, and service-oriented businesses occupy structures of varying sizes, most of which are contiguous, having shared walls. Many of these structures have a similar external appearance. Also included are traditional shopping mall features like large, multi-floor department stores, small kiosks located in the indoor common areas, a cinema complex, ATMs, and both covered and open parking structures. Easton attracts roughly 25 million visitors per year.[1]

Tenants and Layout Design

Easton Town Center is anchored by Macy's and Nordstrom and includes 240 other retail shops.

Nordstrom is found at the northernmost point. Despite Easton being a developed town center, its grid system is not perfectly centered, with certain areas being designed for specific uses. For example, the South District hosts outdoor concerts, holiday events, and an interactive water fountain on its town square, and also features a large outdoor train set, The Easton Express. The only indoor area is the Station Building which houses H&M, the 30-screen AMC Dine-In Movie Theatre, and T-Mobile USA. Parking garages are scattered throughout. 2015 also saw additional retailers and restaurants moving into Easton Gateway, an expanded section of Easton.

Easton Express Model Train

History

The area that Easton Town Center now exists on was originally intended to be an expansion of Limited Brands. However, shifting demographics in central Ohio in the 1980s and 1990s made the potential greater. Instead of following in the typical path of large, indoor malls the retail development (co-developed by The Georgetown Company and Steiner + Associates) was instead turned to an outdoor lifestyle center. Easton Town Center became one of the first in the country. A trend that became much more prevalent in the 2000s. Easton Town Center was one of the first outdoor shopping centers to incorporate indoor parking, town squares, various fountains, and varying types of tenants.

A real estate project of Les Wexner, the founder, chairman and CEO of nearby Limited Brands, Easton comprises 1,800,000 square feet (170,000 m2) of retail space built upon approximately 90 acres (360,000 m2) within a larger 1,300-acre (5 km2) development. The 90-acre (360,000 m2) retail development was co-developed by The Georgetown Company and Steiner + Associates, with M+A Architects serving as the Architect of Record, while the overall 1,300-acre (5 km2)

Phase I (the South District) opened in the summer of 1999. It now includes tenants such as AMC Dine-In Theatres, Forever XXI, Crate & Barrel, and The Cheesecake Factory. It was also the site of the first ever Hollister Co. store which opened in 2000.

Phase II (the "Fashion District") opened in the fall of 2001. The North District is also home to a large circular fountain.

Crate & Barrel constructed a location at Easton in 2004 and the South Garage was built to expand the number of parking spaces.

HOMAGE opened its 2nd retail location in the summer of 2012.

In late 2015 the newest expansion was completed: the Easton Gateway [2] development. The district, with a focus on service tenants, expanded the mixed use area by 500,000 square feet. The first tenant to open was Costco which did so in October.

In early 2018, renovations on the station building has begun, including new floors walls, and updated services. The renovation ended in June.

The Easton area is a partnership between Limited Brands and The Georgetown Company.

Easton Town Center is currently leased and managed by Steiner & Associates.

Awards

In 2000, Easton Town Center received the ICSC award for Innovative Design of a New Project.[3]

In 2003, Easton Town Center Received the America's Best Restroom award for having family-friendly restrooms.[4]

In 2011, Easton Town Center was listed as Top Five Most Innovative Malls in the World list,[5] according to the trade publication Inside Retail.

References


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