Crossroads Plaza

Crossroads Plaza is an outdoor shopping center located in Cary, North Carolina, United States. The shopping center was opened in 1992 and has been added onto and renovated several times since then. It contains over 70 stores, including national chains and locally-owned stores.HistoryThe Crossroads site comprises 237acre and was originally developed by NCNB, acting as trustee for the Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio, as a commercial development with an enclosed shopping mall plus 250000sqft of non-retail space including a corporate park and hotel. NCNB enlisted LJ Hooker Corporation, who was embarking on an ill-fated plan to build malls across the United States, to develop the mall on 87.7acre at the northern end of the site.Hooker filed plans in 1988 for a $240 million regional mall with 1350000sqft of retail space on two levels, five department stores ranging from 80000sqft to 200000sqft, a 65ft tall glass-roofed center court enclosing 1.5acre, and 6,853 parking spaces. The planned development would have increased Cary's tax base by 18%. Site clearance and road work began, but construction was halted when a national recession forced the company to declare bankruptcy in late 1989.The Crossroads Mall site was soon purchased by New Market Development. In 1990, they filed drastically changed plans. Instead of an enclosed mall at the center of the site, they proposed a 628610sqft power center with 11 big-box anchors and a few smaller shops lining the edge of the site and 3,458 parking spaces at the center. Although the new proposal had half as much retail space, it was very large for an outdoor retail center at the time.