Regency Mall was a major regional mall in South Augusta, Georgia, United States. Located at 1700 Gordon Highway, Regency Mall was open from 1978 to 2002. It was anchored by J.B. White (now Dillard's), Belk (Belk-Howard, but signed as Belk), Montgomery Ward and Cullum's (later Meyers-Arnold and Uptons), and also featured a three-screen movie General Cinema theatre. Developed by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation, Regency Mall was Augusta's first shopping mall, opening one week before Augusta Mall.
Never updated during its lifespan, Regency Mall failed due to crime and security problems, a poor location and a market too small to support two shopping malls. Its anchor stores began to pull out during the early 1990s. Regency's last remaining anchor, Montgomery Ward, closed when the chain folded in 2001. The mall was boarded up in March 2002 shortly after its last tenant, International Formal Wear, closed, but the buildings' interiors remained mostly intact. As of December 2013, in order to prevent any further vandalism and fires set by homeless people, transients, and squatters breaking into the mall, Regency Mall's whole interior along with the interiors of its four anchor stores were completely gutted of all combustible materials after the City of Augusta and Richmond County officials had ordered the malls owner to either fully secure the facility in order to bring it up to 2013-2014 Richmond County and City of Augusta fire codes or demolish it. Demolition work on the mall commenced in October 2020, starting with the former Montgomery Ward's building; however, no further advancements have been made on the project since that time.
History
Development (1978–1980s) Regency Mall was originally planned as part of the "Regency Square" development, which included condominiums, a shopping plaza and a hotel."Opens to Public," Augusta Chronicle 26 April 1975: 5B Frank Barrios, who served as the first manager for Regency Mall, said in 1978 that the mall's location, at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Gordon Highway, was chosen because it was the center of population for the Central Savannah River Area and had excellent accessibility.John Sorrells, "'Concept to Completion' Philosophy Used For Mall," Augusta Chronicle 25 May 1978: 3D
Construction of Regency Mall began in 1976. Montgomery Ward, Belk and J.B. White were the first anchor stores to announce locations at Regency Mall. JCPenney considered building a store at Regency Mall, but decided against it, instead choosing later to move into Augusta Mall.Harold Reames, "New Mall Will Create 2,800 Jobs," Augusta Chronicle 29 September 1976: A1 Cullum's announced in early 1978 that it would build a store at the mall, becoming the fourth anchor.Frank Stanfield, "Cullum's Will Locate Store in Regency Mall," Augusta Chronicle 3 March 1978: 2B
Regency Mall was configured in a Y-shaped layout. Its surrounding landscape was terraced, providing ground-level entrances to the upper and lower levels. The mall's interior was decorated in an alabaster motif with brown accents, and its floors were finished in brown-speckled terrazzo tile. Live trees were planted at intervals along the lower-level concourses. The mall's three wings met at a center court, framed by pillars and featuring a fountain, a clock tower and a stage area floored in brown tile."Center Court Offers Special Features," Augusta Chronicle Regency Mall Section 27 July 1978: 3 Regency Mall had more than of space; when it opened, it was the largest enclosed shopping mall in Georgia."Regency Mall State's Largest," Augusta Chronicle 21 May 1978: 1C
Regency Mall's grand opening took place on July 27, 1978, with 70 of its 139 scheduled stores ready for business.John Sorrells, "Regency Mall To Open For Business Today," Augusta Chronicle 27 July 1978: 1A Many of the smaller stores in the mall opened over the following weeks. Cullum's, still under construction at the time the mall opened, did not open until later in 1978, and Belk's Regency Mall store was not completed until 1979.Belk advertisement, Augusta Chronicle Regency Mall Section 27 July 1978: 8-9.
Augusta Mall, from Regency Mall, opened for business on August 3, 1978. Developed by the Rouse Company, Augusta Mall had been in the planning stages since 1972; however, its construction had been delayed due to economic uncertainty.Bill Pratt, "Richmond Site Chosen For $10 Million Mall," Augusta Chronicle 19 August 1976: 1A The smaller Augusta Mall had 100 stores but only two anchors, Rich's and Davison's; both of these were Atlanta-based chains, while Regency Mall featured a combination of Georgia-based and national chains. However, both malls operated successfully through the 1970s and much of the 1980s. They had drawn large retailers to close their downtown stores and relocate to the malls, and many smaller stores had opened stores in one, or both, of the malls.
Trouble ahead (1990s) Though Regency Mall was the largest mall in Augusta, its location posed problems during the 1990s. Augusta Mall tended to draw shoppers from the central and western portions of Augusta. Regency Mall, located in south Augusta, tended to draw customers from the southern, eastern and northern portions of the Augusta area, and also drew business from service personnel stationed at nearby Fort Gordon.For further analysis, see John Hally's commentary on Regency Mall, at https://www.deadmalls.com/malls/regency_mall.html
Regency Mall also suffered by not being located near expressways or interstate highways. In contrast, Augusta Mall was located just off the Bobby Jones Expressway (I-520) and was approximately two miles from Interstate 20. Regency Mall was not near any such thoroughfares; instead, it was located at the intersection of two traditional highways, in a part of town that was slowly deteriorating.
Security at Regency Mall also became an issue as the 1980s wore on, leading to a perception that the mall was not a safe place to visit. Both Augusta Mall and Regency Mall had faced security problems by 1985."Mall Incidents," Augusta Chronicle 18 June 1999, available at http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/061899/met_045-8148.001.shtml But in March 1986, a 16-year-old was abducted from a parking lot at Regency Mall. She was raped and shot four times, and her body was found several days later near Hephzibah, Georgia.Joan Hennessy, "Girl's Body Found Near Hephzibah," Augusta Chronicle 16 March 1986: 1A. Alexander Williams was found guilty of murdering the victim and was sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison in 2002, one week before his scheduled execution. He was found dead in his jail cell that November, an apparent suicide. See Ashlee Griggs, "Killer of Teen Dies in Prison," Augusta Chronicle 26 November 2002: http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/112602/met_155-6782.000.shtml Three years later, an 18-year-old woman was shot by a man who was hiding in the back seat of her car, leaving her paralyzed; her family filed suit against DeBartolo, claiming that security at Regency Mall was inadequate.Cas Shearis, "Victim's Family Relieved Case Is Over, But Says Money Can't Ease Pain," Augusta Chronicle 15 March 1991: 1B.
A further blow came in 1990, when Augusta Mall completed a $32 million renovation and expansion. The centerpiece of the expansion was a new Sears store, which replaced the chain's freestanding store near Broad street at the intersection of Walton Way and 15th Street. In addition, the mall's interior was updated and expanded, growing from around 90 stores to more than 130 stores.Jeff Turner, "Mall Opens Massive Expansion," Augusta Chronicle 7 March 1990: 1A. In contrast, Regency Mall remained essentially unchanged from its original configuration, and its interior seemed dark and dated compared to that of its freshened cross-town rival. DeBartolo held out hope that a new fifth anchor store could still become a reality.Greg Guest, "10 Years Later, Augusta Malls Keep Growing," Augusta Chronicle 3 July 1988: 1E However, through location, renovation and growth, Augusta Mall was on its way to becoming the region's dominant mall.
Decline (1993–1999) The first anchor store to close at Regency Mall was Upton's, which occupied the space originally built for Cullum's; its Regency Mall store closed in April 1993. Seven other stores in the mall closed by the end of that year. Some merchants who were leaving the mall said that the mall was not generating enough traffic to justify remaining at the mall. One said she did not see the mall "having any kind of future" the way it was. Another merchant claimed that the mall's management "doesn't seem to want to work with its tenants."Cassandra P. Foust, "Seven Stores Vacate Regency," Augusta Chronicle 5 January 1994: 6C. Though some new businesses moved in, some of these were small businesses instead of franchised outlets; for example, a comic book store moved into a vacant store on the second level. However, the mall was steadily becoming deserted.
DeBartolo Family Associates transferred the mall to mortgage holder Equitable Real Estate in 1995; as part of the deal, a $12.5 million debt owed by DeBartolo was forgiven. Equitable sold the mall in 1997 to Regency Mall, LLC, formed by Raleigh developers Haywood Whichard and Paul Woo, who specialized in buying and reselling distressed mall properties. Whichard and Woo bought the mall, valued at $33.5 million in 1991 tax records, for less than $4.15 million.Sylvia Cooper and Donna W. Rogers, "Regency Mall Now Has New Ownership," Augusta Chronicle 6 March 1997: 1A. Whichard was once quoted as saying, "Malls are like bananas. You buy them at one price and sell them at another. Some of those go bad. Those you throw out." See Frank Witsil, "Restoring Regency," Augusta Business Chronicle 5 July 1999: http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/070599/abc_regency.shtml In hopes of attracting business, lease rates were set as low as $3.50 per square foot, compared to the $9–$18 per square foot charged elsewhere in the surrounding area. Though a few businesses moved to the mall, they were not enough to turn business around. The mall continued to lose tenants. Whichard and Woo said that the mall needed to be renovated to attract new tenants, but Woo said that the two were not willing to risk the $15 to $30 million such renovations would require.Frank Witsil, "Want To Buy A Mall?" Augusta Chronicle 24 February 1999: http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/022499/bus_124-5756.shtml
Other tenants fell as the years passed. Belk closed its Outlet Center at Regency Mall in August 1996."Regency Mall Chronology," Augusta Chronicle 6 March 1997:7A. General Cinema closed its three-screen theatre at Regency Mall that same year.Albert Ross Jr., "Curtain Falls On Regency 8," Augusta Chronicle 30 September 2000: http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/093000/bus_069-4760.000.shtml Two years later, JB White closed its Regency Mall store and opened a new store at Augusta Mall, leaving Montgomery Ward as the only anchor left at the mall.Donna W. Rogers and Willie Mae Worthey, "Selling It All," Augusta Chronicle 3 January 1998: http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/010398/jbwhite.shtml The management of that store boarded up its mall entrances to save on heating and cooling costs. The mall's escalators were shut off to save money, and management scaled back the hours of operation. Even with these and other economic measures, the mall lost money each day it was open. Occupancy was, at most, 35 percent.Frank Witsil, "Options Considered For Regency Mall," Augusta Chronicle 25 September 1998: http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/092598/bus_124-3449.shtml