A night out at Valley View Center Mall March 2022

On the way back from a day trip to Dallas, we passed through to see what has become of the Valley View Mall site. 

Check out this video from Retail Mix USA to see how the site looked about a week before our visit.

The AMC theater which was the lone holdout at the mall had recently closed. With the theater closed, the rest of the mall will probably come down soon.

The AMC labelscar is new. With the power still being on, we were able to see the soon to be fenced off spots at the property

A look at some of the old tenants that were at the mall.

The bright bulbs of the entrance were still shining for us.

I never went into the mall after the corridors were walled off. Even though I saw this in videos, it was still strange to see in person. 

I was glad that the power was still on so we could see inside for one last time.

Zoom in and you can see my shadow and what may be an old mall directory.

Even the signage showing the exit to I-635 was still illuminated.

Classic lighting. 

The Valley View labelscar.

Looks like the equipment was in place to start going after the final part of the mall for demolition.

The dark Valley View I-635 road sign.

An oasis in the middle of abandonment. 

Now for a drive around the property. 

And a bit of drive through. Yes this is the slab of the former Foley's/Macy's/Sanger Harris. This lot was wide open for anyone to drive into, although there was construction debris around. Just glad we didn't get a flat here.

This is part of the mall corridor that was left intact. 

A look at the remaining center court of the mall.

More of the same but from a different angle.

Part of the old floor was still intact.

The outline of the storefront. 

Looking into the vast emptiness where the Macy's/Sanger Harris anchor used to sit.

AMC was gone, but this sign was a reminder.

The way they demolished the mall with AMC still open is so strange. From I-635 the site didn't look too bad, but when you drove around the ring road it looked terrible. Practically most of the mall was gone and even the sides no longer had anything besides sheetrock walls keeping the interior closed off. In 2022 the difference between the Valley View site and Red Bird is enormous, both sites began their transformations at about the same time. Red Bird is booming with construction, new businesses, and new living spaces. Valley View is this, a partially demolished mall with nothing new going up yet. With AMC out of the picture, there should be nothing left to stop this site from redevelopment. While it is sad to see yet another mall wasted, Valley View never had a chance with the Galleria practically around the corner. 

 

Valley View Center mall May 2019 update

Here we are at one of the most unusual redevelopment mall projects. The Valley View Center Mall was in the process of demolition while one holdout was keeping a portion of the mall open for business. The AMC was still operating on the third level of the mall while the entire remainder of the mall was abandoned or in the process of demolition. AMC was added in 2004 to boost mall traffic, but was unable to reach an agreement to relocate the theater for the mall redevelopment. AMC still has a lease until 2021 at the mall. The location of the theater requires the center of the mall along with 3 corridors to remain in place until the theater vacates the property. Even though the AMC is temporarily closed, it may possibly reopen in the near future. 

Check out my short YouTube video of the mall as well, click here.

Sears was in the early stages of demolition. The store closed in July 2017.

Dillard's was in the beginning of the demolition process as well.

JCPenney was mostly down to the metal skeleton.

The closed off entrance near the former Macy's.

You can see the wall separating the mall from the now demolished Macy's. The store that was demolished had some awesome murals that could not be saved.

Now the Macy's is just a slab.

This road sign was still intact.

There were a lot of cars in the lot, but where were the people?

So this entrance was locked, here is what the inside looked like.

This entrance was reopened just a few weeks after our visit. The entrance and corridor by Sears was closed off when this entrance was reopened.

The entrance to the right next to the former Sears pictured here was open.

Here is how the mall looked as we walked inside.

All of the businesses except AMC were evicted in February just before our May visit.

I have to wonder how the sign was broken up like this.

The ceiling had multiple leaks, you can see the various efforts to paint spots.

The directory was very outdated. Only the AMC was still in business at this point.

The Sears mall entrance.

No A/C, barely any lights, and no stores to speak of. This is the most uninviting place to go to the movies.

The first puff of cool air from the AMC above.

As we arrive to the center court, we start to see the boards and sheetrock blocking off access to the majority of the mall. I was able to take photos either above or around the blockades. Climbing on old trash cans to get photos like this one was worth the effort.

Looking back at the corridor we walked through.

The construction bags were also blocking access and dust. The mall was still pretty dusty.

A different view from around the wall.

The escalators were on, so let's take the ride.

We can see more of the closed off sections of the mall up above.

That trash can on the left was sturdy 😉.

Hard to believe this area is in the same mall. The air conditioning, smell of popcorn, and people moving around is completely different than the rest of the property. 

Now we head back down the other set of escalators for more views over the barricades.

The food court is mostly hidden since the barricades are blocking the views.

There was enough room around the barricade to put my hand around to get this photo.

Here is the other exit that was still open to the public.

An old leasing sign still in place.

I took this walk and focused on the vacant stores. The lighting in this part of the mall was much better here. I am glad that I did this because a month later the stores were covered up with sheetrock. Yes for some odd reason the open corridors of the mall are now just walls of sheetrock leading to the AMC. Check out this video from Dead Malls with Jeff and Company showing the change just a month after our visit.

Ace's Adventures also made a visit to this mall, click here for the video.

There was still a person cleaning up the mall, security was also driving around outside.

Yeah this sign did not age well.

Not many mall exits tell you what exit you are at, but this mall had specific road locations at the exits.

More store fronts.

I was pretty hungry after looking at this menu.

Some random items inside of this former store. Remember when fidget spinners were the hot toy? Someone made millions off of this toy idea.

In the Houston area tornado shelter signs are non-existent, even though our area gets tornados as well. It is good to see these up even as the mall was nearly empty at this point. 

This part of the mall appeared to still be active when the tenants were evicted. I remember this corridor was nearly full when I last visited this mall.

Back to the Sears corridor.

El Mercado was never as successful here as I have seen at other malls. 

Waldenbooks Bookstore, the flash really reflected on this photo.

I found a hole in the wall to put my phone inside to see how the inside of Sears looked. Looks like something out of a nightmare. 

This side of the Sears mall entrance was not open.

I was able to get this photo of the Sears entrance that had been busted through at that mall entrance.

The red tiles surrounding the mall entrance of Sears. That area towards the left side of the store looks like it had been accidentally broken through and covered up. 

The Sears court.

More of the red brick.

More of the Sears court.

Water damage was all over the place if you looked up in the mall.

The other side of the Sears entrance with the red tile.

More outside views, Sears pictured here.

Sears again.

The other road sign had been covered up by this advertisement for the new development at the mall. Sadly as of July 2020, the mall redevelopment is stalled yet again. The anchors except for AMC have been demolished, but nothing new has been built yet.

Dillard's is open!

More stuff coming soon!