What’s replacing the former North Hills JCPenney? Mall developers have a big plan.
Almost two years after losing its longest-tenured anchor store, North Hills mall is barreling toward a massive, multi-use replacement project featuring new retail, residential and office space options.
The complex will replace North Hills’ defunct JCPenney, which closed in April 2020. The department store had operated since 1967 before closing as part of the company’s nationwide cutbacks.
JCPenney’s former building has been razed and construction is underway on a two-story parking deck that will underpin 100,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, 300,000 square feet of office space and 300 residential units, according to North Hills developer John Kane, CEO of Kane Realty.
“On top of the deck there will be ground level retail with a kind of a park in front,” Kane told the News & Observer. “Several stores will go on top of that deck and then we’re also doing a 12-story office building, a six-story office product above retail and then 12 stories of residences above retail.”
A Restoration Hardware “RH Gallery” will serve as the area’s new anchor retail option. Unlike traditional Restoration Hardware stores, the new RH Gallery will couple the company’s high-end furniture with a rooftop restaurant and bar. Wandering baristas will serve coffee and wine to visitors as they meander about the store’s showroom.
RH Gallery will showcase all of the company’s finest wares, but don’t expect to bring any home with you.
“It’s something new they’ve been doing for four or five years,” Kane said. “They don’t really sell anything. You don’t have a checkout where you can buy a piece of furniture or whatever it is. It’s really like you’re going and looking at the galleries, you might take your decorator, you walk around looking at what you like.”
Shoppers can later purchase items online for home delivery.
“It’s very experiential,” Kane said.
North Hills is still securing its other retail tenants for the new site, but Kane expected more announcements to come soon. RH Gallery and the new complex should open by the summer of 2023, he said.
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 6:00 AM with the headline "What’s replacing the former North Hills JCPenney? Mall developers have a big plan.."
