Amazon fulfillment center to rise on site of ‘World’s Biggest Mall’
The Randall Park Mall outside of Cleveland was part of retail history in the mid-70’s when it debuted as “The World’s Biggest Mall.” Now the site becomes woven into the retail narrative of the 21st Century.
Amazon has announced it will build an 855,000-sq.-ft. fulfillment center where the mall, demolished in 2014, once was the centerpiece of the village of North Randall, Ohio. The 855,000-sq.-ft. foot facility — which will pack and ship small items like books, toys, and electronics — promises to bring as many as 2,000 jobs to the struggling community.
"I saw the rise. I saw the fall," said the town’s building commissioner Charles Horvath, who started his career at the same time the mall opened in 1976, in a Cleveland.com interview. "We were in a depression before the rest of America was even in a recession."
The site reported that the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority board will put up $123 million worth of bond financing for the $177 million construction of the fulfillment center. Developer Seefried Industrial Properties will then lease the facility to Amazon.
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