Metro North Mall Opens Its Doors
In September 1976, Metro North Mall opened at 400 NW Barry Road as Kansas City's first enclosed shopping center north of the river.
Built by Frank Morgan and Sherman Dreiseszun of MD Management, it covered 1.3 million square feet across two levels and 125 stores.
Three anchors opened that year: The Jones Store, JCPenney, and Montgomery Ward, with Macy's joining in 1979 on the mall's north side.
The interior featured a circular pool in the center court surrounded by a stage and four mechanical hot-air balloons that rose and fell daily.
Families gathered around the fountain as the balloons drifted above bright tile floors and pastel walls.
An AMC six-screen theater opened within the mall, while Dairy Queen and In-a-Tub served quick meals nearby.
There was no formal food court, an uncommon layout for the time.
The developers had already built Metcalf South Shopping Center in 1967, and Metro North Mall extended its model to the fast-growing Northland.
By the end of the decade, its mix of department stores, local favorites, and indoor spectacle made it the region's dominant retail hub north of the river.
A Mall in Motion
By 1980, Metro North Mall was running at full stride.
The parking areas stayed packed from morning to night, reflecting steady sales.
Restaurants began to cluster around the edge of the property, giving shoppers new places to stop between errands or after a movie showing.
A second AMC six-screen theater opened behind the mall, complementing the indoor cinema and extending the evening crowds well past closing.
Inside, pastel greens and soft lighting replaced the bold colors of the 1970s.
New benches, planters, and lampposts gave the concourse a calmer tone.
The fountain kept its circular pool, and the four mechanical hot-air balloons rose and lowered above the stage as they had since opening day.
During December weekends, parking overflowed.
Management brought in Worlds of Fun trams to shuttle customers from the farthest lots.
Families lined up to visit Santa under the hanging balloons, while music echoed from portable speakers.
Macy's location at Metro North Mall was converted to Dillard's in 1986 following a corporate change in the space.
By 1990, occupancy remained near total, and anchors like The Jones Store, JCPenney, Montgomery Ward, and Dillard's continued to draw steady crowds.
The surrounding Barry Road corridor grew alongside the mall, filling with restaurants and offices that benefited from the foot traffic.
Metro North Mall entered the next decade as Kansas City's Northland retail centerpiece.
Trouble Within the Walls
The 1990s opened quietly for Metro North Mall, but by mid-decade, the atmosphere had changed.
In 1993, a fatal incident inside the Metro North Mall 6 Theatre shook shoppers and drew national attention. Attendance slipped afterward, even as stores stayed open.
Maintenance records from the late 1990s show recurring system repairs.
Crews serviced mechanical equipment and updated lighting, signaling a property entering midlife upkeep.
Leasing efforts kept the space full, but the energy of earlier years had begun to fade.
By 2000, MD Management, the same company that built Metro North, announced plans for a new open-air retail complex called Zona Rosa.
Its site in nearby Platte County promised easier access and modern layouts that appealed to tenants.
To prepare for the transition, MD Management raised leases at Metro North, encouraging merchants to move to the new project.
Store by store, the mall's long-term occupants began planning exits.
The change marked a turning point. Metro North Mall was no longer the future of Northland shopping but a property whose owners were already building its successor.
The quiet thinning of leases set the stage for rapid losses in the years that followed.
Vacancies Multiply
The first major closure came in 2001, when Montgomery Ward shut down after its parent company went bankrupt.
The empty anchor darkened one entire wing, and nearby inline stores soon followed.
By 2002, both AMC theaters had closed. Screens went dark, and concession counters sat empty.
Foot traffic fell sharply, especially at night.
Leasing teams tried short-term tenants, but most stayed only months.
In 2006, The Jones Store rebranded as Macy's, keeping its upper and lower levels open while the rest of the mall emptied.
Dillard's turned its store into a clearance center in 2007, sealing off its ground floor to cut costs.
JCPenney closed in mid-2008, relocating to two newer sites in the region.
Dillard's left completely later that year, reopening in Zona Rosa.
Each departure left more gates pulled down and corridors unlit.
MC Sporting Goods, which had filled part of the former Montgomery Ward space since 2002, closed in March 2009.
With it went one of the last large tenants.
Macy's stood alone among the original anchors as the interior fell nearly silent.
Closed and Left Behind
By 2009, Metro North Mall was operating at about 17 percent occupancy.
Vacant storefronts outnumbered open ones, and the fountain area stood mostly empty.
Management pursued redevelopment options to revive the site.
A 2007 partnership with Alberta Development Partners outlined an outdoor lifestyle center, but the project stalled after the 2008 recession and the death of developer Sherman Dreiseszun.
New plans circulated in 2010 for a smaller enclosed mall with mixed uses.
They never advanced beyond preliminary renderings.
Leases continued to expire without renewal, and maintenance slowed as revenue dropped.
In May 2013, MD Management announced its intent to raze the mall and replace it with a single-level complex anchored by two department stores.
No demolition began that year, but the statement signaled the end.
On April 15, 2014, Metro North Mall closed to the public.
Two small tenants, GNC and The Wig Shoppe, operated through the final week.
Macy's remained open in its separate building. After thirty-eight years, the once-busy concourse was sealed.
From Abandonment to Renewal
After closure, the property sat quiet while the ownership searched for buyers.
In March 2015, IAS Partners Ltd. purchased the entire site, announcing plans for a full mixed-use redevelopment called Metro North Crossing.
Crews cleared debris and assessed structural integrity. By early 2017, demolition began on the main concourse.
Walls and skylights came down, leaving only the Macy's building intact.
In August 2016, the city approved rezoning for a $192–250 million project covering 106 acres.
The design replaced the sealed corridors with open streets and outparcels for retail, housing, and office space.
IAS Partners had recently redeveloped Blue Ridge and Antioch malls with similar concepts.
Their approach emphasized walkable layouts rather than enclosed corridors.
In 2020, T-Shotz opened as one of the first new anchors.
The 52,000-square-foot golf entertainment complex introduced 66 climate-controlled bays, restaurants, and event rooms.
The success of this first phase demonstrated that the site's new format could attract steady traffic again.
Construction continued through the following year as new tenants prepared to build around the anchor.
Metro North Crossing Takes Shape
In August 2022, the Woodstone apartment complex opened on the former mall grounds.
The $60 million development included 249 units and 30,000 square feet of retail and office space.
Amenities such as a pool, pickleball courts, and walking trails signaled the site's new residential focus.
Restaurants and retailers followed.
Hawaiian Bros Island Grill began service in December 2022, and Whataburger opened in January 2023.
Dutch Bros Coffee, Third Street Social, KPOT, Bloom Nails & Spa, and other tenants filled newly finished buildings through 2024.
In July 2024, IAS Partners acquired the remaining Macy's parcel, completing control of the property.
Two months later, Macy's announced the closure of its Metro North Mall location as part of a national reduction plan.
The store closed on March 23, 2025.
By spring, renovation crews entered the 150,000-square-foot former Macy's building to prepare it for the Furniture Mall of Missouri.
The new anchor was scheduled to open by the end of 2025.
Summer updates added that a kid-focused entertainment venue would share the property.
By July, plans for an NRG Adventure Park, covering about 46,000 square feet, were public, with an opening slated for early 2026.
Metro North Crossing now operates as a mixed-use district of retail, dining, and housing.
Where glass concourses once stood, streets and storefronts form the new pattern of Kansas City's Northland commerce.
