Retail powerhouse Hamilton Place mall turns 30

Cars sit in the parking lot of Hamilton Place mall in Chattanooga, Tenn., Monday, July 24, 2017. Hamilton Place will be 30 years old this August.

By Mike Pare July 30, 2017 8 min read

It generated the excitement and got the attention of the public and people who live on out beyond the core area.

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Retail powerhouse Hamilton Place mall turns 30

Michael, Charles, Stephen and Alan Lebovitz pose for a photo Monday, July 24, 2017, at CBL and Associates Properties, Inc., in Chattanooga, Tenn., with a shovel used in the original groundbreaking for Hamilton Place Mall. Hamilton Place will be 30 years old this August.

From left to right, Michael, Stephen, Alan and Charles Lebovitz talk about different stores that have come and gone from Hamilton Place Mall in its 30 years Monday, July 24, 2017, at CBL and Associates Properties, Inc., in Chattanooga, Tenn. While bigger box stores still remain important to the vitality of the mall, the Lebovitz family is seeing that other smaller stores and restaurants can sometimes become staple stores as well.

CBL Chairman Charles Lebovitz speaks about the changes and consistencies of Hamilton Place Mall over the years Monday, July 24, 2017, at CBL and Associates Properties, Inc., in Chattanooga, Tenn. Hamilton Place Mall will be 30 years old this August.

Cars come and go from Hamilton Place mall in Chattanooga, Tenn., Monday, July 24, 2017. Hamilton Place will be 30 years old this August.

People come and go from the foodcourt of Hamilton Place Mall Monday, July 24, 2017, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Hamilton Place will be 30 years old this August.

Stephen Lebovitz looks through an annual report to retrieve specifics regarding Hamilton Place Mall Monday, July 24, 2017, at CBL and Associates Properties, Inc., in Chattanooga, Tenn. Hamilton Place Mall will be 30 years old this August.

Signage along a wall near the GNC store indicates a new H&M store will be opening in the Fall Monday, July 24, 2017, at Hamilton Place Mall in Chattanooga, Tenn. Hamilton Place Mall will be 30 years old this August.

Kyhonah Lawrence, 19, takes the escalator to the first floor of Hamilton Place Mall Monday, July 24, 2017, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Hamilton Place Mall will be 30 years old this August.

Brendon Rembert, 4, walks around Hamilton Place Mall with his father Marco Rembert Monday, July 24, 2017, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The two were clothes shopping for Brendon.

Julie Clevenger, 16, Aden Henke, 15, and Adrian Oyler, 15, walk to the Foot Locker Monday, July 24, 2017, at Hamilton Place Mall in Chattanooga, Tenn. The three were back-to-school shoe shopping.

Thirty years ago, the vast acreage that now makes up Hamilton Place mall and the array of nearby stores, restaurants, other businesses and residences around it was basically just woods.

“It was sort of isolated,” said Charles Lebovitz, chairman of shopping center developer CBL & Associates Properties Inc. “It was totally undeveloped land sitting here.”

Today, the mall and the development that has mushroomed in East Brainerd generate more than $2 billion of retail sales annually and employs more than 17,000 people, according to CBL officials, who this week will mark Hamilton Place’s 30th birthday.

The 1.3 million-square-foot mall and the related growth exceeded expectations, Lebovitz said in an interview last week with sons Stephen, CBL’s chief executive; Michael, executive vice president of development and administration; and Alan, senior vice president of management.