Plans to upgrade and redevelop one of the oldest shopping centers in the heart of Hampton’s primary retail area appear to be moving swiftly with the announcement of a major new retailer on Friday.
National retailer At Home, a home décor and furniture store, confirmed plans to anchor the Riverdale Plaza Shopping Center complex at 1072 W. Mercury Blvd. with a new Peninsula store.
Further announcements and changes are expected for the shopping center in the coming days. Hampton development officials declined to comment on At Home’s announcement pending ongoing development discussions surrounding Riverdale.
Spanning nearly 178,000-square-feet, Riverdale Plaza Shopping Center was one of the first major retail centers constructed in the city prior to the former Coliseum Mall’s development in 1973.
But as new shopping options began to bloom within Coliseum Central, Riverdale didn’t keep pace with its more notable redeveloped retail neighbors like Peninsula Town Center, Coliseum Crossing and Mercury Plaza.
That may be about to change.
At Home plans to fill 91,000 square feet of retail space at Riverdale, according to a company news release. Officials plan to open the new store by June, pending permit approval. The Plano, TX-based retailer plans to hire 25 full- and part-time associates to staff the new location.
Shoppers will find more than 50,000 items, including decorations, bedding and furniture.
The Hampton store will be the company’s fifth in the Virginia market, the news release said. At Home operates a location in Chesapeake, and three other locations in metro Richmond and Northern Virginia.
The new retail addition is the latest in a series of positive signs in the Coliseum Central district.
Earlier this month, officials with Newport News-based Robert Brown and Associates Inc. announced plans to redevelop and expand a part of Coliseum Crossing Shopping Center.
Plans call for much of 30-year-old shopping center, located at 2101 Coliseum Drive, to be expanded and renovated to include updates to its facade, sidewalks, landscaping, lighting, signage and storefronts.
Much of the expansion and renovation will occur on the south end of the 25-acre property fronting Cunningham Drive, Brown said, where officials have purchased 1.25 acres neighboring the center for the planned 8,255 square feet expansion.
Party City is set to take roughly half of Marshalls’ space once the store vacates its space, leaving about 13,000-square-feet of retail space remaining to lease. Moe’s Southwest Grill is set to occupy space in an outparcel shopping center fronting Coliseum Drive near Starbucks.
There was one significant bit of bad news recently for the Coliseum Central area. Macy’s will close its 173,000-square-foot anchor store in Peninsula Town Center sometime this spring.
Hampton City Hall Reporter Ryan Murphy contributed to this story. O’Neal can be reached by phone at 757-247-4744.
