Avenue du Charles du Gaulle and Route du St.-Germaine
Commune of Le Chesnay (Department of Yvelines), France
One of the first United States-style shopping malls on the continent of Europe was built on a 50-acre plot, situated 10.3 miles southwest of centre city Paris, in the commune of Le Chesnay ["Luh shuh-nay"]. The retail hub was a component of a 7,500-unit development, known as Parly 2, which was built between 1967 and 1978. The mall's tentative name, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, had been changed to PARLY 2 by the time of its completion.
Envisaged by Robert de Balkany and Jean-Louis Solal, the PARLY 2 development and shopping complex were built under the auspices of La Societe des Centres Commerciaux (SCC), of Paris. The mall was designed by New York City's Lathrop Douglass and Paris' Claude Balick. Douglass had conceptualized several iconic malls in the United States. A listing would include Yonkers, New York's CROSS COUNTY CENTER (1954), Montgomery County, Maryland's WHEATON PLAZA (1960) and Fairfax County, Virginia's TYSONS CORNER CENTER (1968).
CENTRE COMMERCIAL PARLY 2 was officially dedicated on November 4, 1969. Attending the grand opening ceremony were local politicians, such as Jean-Paul Palewski, and fashion designer Coco Chanel. The mall was a fully-enclosed structure of approximately 712,500 leasable square feet. There were two anchor department stores; a 3-level (143,500 square foot), Paris-based Au Printemps and 3-level (108,500 square foot), Paris-based Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville, a.k.a. BHV.
Among the 100 charter tenants were Christian Dior, Jourdan, Lanvin, Lenotre, Hediard, Nivernaise Butchers, Miss Franc and a Publicis drug store. Junior anchors were a 1-level (22,000 square foot) Suma supermarket and 2-level (43,600 square foot) Prisunic variety store and grocery. There was also 55,000 square feet of leased office space on an upper floor.
The 2-level shopping concourse was done in a late '60s Deco Avante-Garde motif, with marble floors, fountains, artificial foliage and little natural lighting. The building was also partially surrounded by a 2-level parking deck, with accommodations for 3,000 autos.
Other suburban-style shopping malls were built in the Parisienne suburbs. These included VELIZY 2 (1972) {5.7 miles southeast, in Velizy-Villacoublay} and ROSNY 2 (1975) {16.8 miles northeast, in Rosny-Sous-Bois}.
In the mid-1980s, a joint venture was established. The Progemo Company and Sari Company, two Paris-based real estate firms, joined forces with Great Britain's Norwich Union Insurance Company. A parcel of land south of the PARLY 2 mall was acquired. A mall expansion got underway in 1986. 439,700 leasable square feet, and eighty-seven stores, were added. A single-level, Y-shaped shopping concourse was built, which crossed over Avenue du Docteure Albert Schweitzer. The thoroughfare was routed through a tunnel for the mall extension.
The new South Wing was dedicated in October 1987. It had 3 levels. The first floor housed a parking garage. The second contained the Y-shaped mall. Level 3 consisted of a rooftop parking deck and two blocks of retail stores. The additional facilities expanded the mall's parking capacity to nearly 5,000 autos.
Stores opened as part of the 1987 extension included C & A (an apparel chain), fnac (selling electronics & appliances), Habitat (carrying home furnishings) and Truffault (dealing in outdoor and gardening accouterments). PARLY 2 now spanned approximately 1,151,700 leasable square feet and housed 182 stores and services.
Ownership of the mall had changed by the mid-1990s. Norwich Insurance bought out the Sari interest and established 90 percent ownership of the South Wing. In 1994, Norwich divested its real estate holdings and sold its share of the shopping center to the Abu Dhabi Investment Fund. Meanwhile, the circa-1969 section of the mall was acquired by Amsterdam's Rodamco in 1995.
Toys "R" Us opened their 34th store on French soil, at PARLY 2, on October 21, 2006. By this time, the Place du Marche food court had been installed on Level 3 of the South Wing.
Rodamco merged with Unibail, a Paris-based retail real estate company, in June 2007, forming a new entity known as Unibail-Rodamco. By this time, PARLY 2 was in need of a renovation in order to stay competitive. The mall's dual ownership required its owners to sign a pact to co-ordinate and expedite the redevelopment.
A 200 million Euro (235 million US dollar) expansion and renovation of the mall was envisaged, which got underway in 2010. The five-phase project started with a face lift of the circa-1969 structure, using a "Sixties Chic" motif. Phase 2 involved renovating, replacing and expanding parking garages and decks. 2,000 new spaces were created.
Next came a refurbishment of the circa-1987 South Wing. With this completed, work began at the northeast corner of the complex in March 2016. A parking garage was demolished. A 16-store addition, known as Pont-Neuf (or "New Bridge"), was built, linking the East (BHV) Court and east end of the South Wing.
In all, 37,700 square feet -and sixteen stores- were added. The Pont-Neuf section was completed in November 2017. New "signs" (stores) in the mall included Jott, Armani Exchange, Rituals and New Balance. The complex now encompassed approximately 1,259,400 leasable square feet and contained 190 stores and services.
The final phase of the mall's metamorphosis involved reconstruction and expansion at the northwest corner. The parking deck 5-plex cinema was shuttered in June 2014. It was replaced with the state-of-the-art UGC Cine' Cite'. This 12-screen megaplex, incorporated into a new parking structure, opened for business on June 26, 2019. The official location of the PARLY 2 mall had changed in January. Two adjacent communes merged into a single entity known as Le Chesnay-Rocquencort.
Sources:
Among the 100 charter tenants were Christian Dior, Jourdan, Lanvin, Lenotre, Hediard, Nivernaise Butchers, Miss Franc and a Publicis drug store. Junior anchors were a 1-level (22,000 square foot) Suma supermarket and 2-level (43,600 square foot) Prisunic variety store and grocery. There was also 55,000 square feet of leased office space on an upper floor.
The 2-level shopping concourse was done in a late '60s Deco Avante-Garde motif, with marble floors, fountains, artificial foliage and little natural lighting. The building was also partially surrounded by a 2-level parking deck, with accommodations for 3,000 autos.
Other suburban-style shopping malls were built in the Parisienne suburbs. These included VELIZY 2 (1972) {5.7 miles southeast, in Velizy-Villacoublay} and ROSNY 2 (1975) {16.8 miles northeast, in Rosny-Sous-Bois}.
In the mid-1980s, a joint venture was established. The Progemo Company and Sari Company, two Paris-based real estate firms, joined forces with Great Britain's Norwich Union Insurance Company. A parcel of land south of the PARLY 2 mall was acquired. A mall expansion got underway in 1986. 439,700 leasable square feet, and eighty-seven stores, were added. A single-level, Y-shaped shopping concourse was built, which crossed over Avenue du Docteure Albert Schweitzer. The thoroughfare was routed through a tunnel for the mall extension.
The new South Wing was dedicated in October 1987. It had 3 levels. The first floor housed a parking garage. The second contained the Y-shaped mall. Level 3 consisted of a rooftop parking deck and two blocks of retail stores. The additional facilities expanded the mall's parking capacity to nearly 5,000 autos.
Stores opened as part of the 1987 extension included C & A (an apparel chain), fnac (selling electronics & appliances), Habitat (carrying home furnishings) and Truffault (dealing in outdoor and gardening accouterments). PARLY 2 now spanned approximately 1,151,700 leasable square feet and housed 182 stores and services.
Ownership of the mall had changed by the mid-1990s. Norwich Insurance bought out the Sari interest and established 90 percent ownership of the South Wing. In 1994, Norwich divested its real estate holdings and sold its share of the shopping center to the Abu Dhabi Investment Fund. Meanwhile, the circa-1969 section of the mall was acquired by Amsterdam's Rodamco in 1995.
Toys "R" Us opened their 34th store on French soil, at PARLY 2, on October 21, 2006. By this time, the Place du Marche food court had been installed on Level 3 of the South Wing.
Rodamco merged with Unibail, a Paris-based retail real estate company, in June 2007, forming a new entity known as Unibail-Rodamco. By this time, PARLY 2 was in need of a renovation in order to stay competitive. The mall's dual ownership required its owners to sign a pact to co-ordinate and expedite the redevelopment.
A 200 million Euro (235 million US dollar) expansion and renovation of the mall was envisaged, which got underway in 2010. The five-phase project started with a face lift of the circa-1969 structure, using a "Sixties Chic" motif. Phase 2 involved renovating, replacing and expanding parking garages and decks. 2,000 new spaces were created.
Next came a refurbishment of the circa-1987 South Wing. With this completed, work began at the northeast corner of the complex in March 2016. A parking garage was demolished. A 16-store addition, known as Pont-Neuf (or "New Bridge"), was built, linking the East (BHV) Court and east end of the South Wing.
In all, 37,700 square feet -and sixteen stores- were added. The Pont-Neuf section was completed in November 2017. New "signs" (stores) in the mall included Jott, Armani Exchange, Rituals and New Balance. The complex now encompassed approximately 1,259,400 leasable square feet and contained 190 stores and services.
The final phase of the mall's metamorphosis involved reconstruction and expansion at the northwest corner. The parking deck 5-plex cinema was shuttered in June 2014. It was replaced with the state-of-the-art UGC Cine' Cite'. This 12-screen megaplex, incorporated into a new parking structure, opened for business on June 26, 2019. The official location of the PARLY 2 mall had changed in January. Two adjacent communes merged into a single entity known as Le Chesnay-Rocquencort.
Sources:
The Tampa Tribune
http://www.parly2.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://fr-westfield-com
http://www.immoweek.frwww.scc.fr / Ingrid Nappi-Choulet
http://archives.nicematin.com
https://www.lsa-conso.fr / LSA Commerce & Consommation
La Societe des Centres Commerciaux
www.unibail-rodamco.com
www.yveslineradio.com
http://www.immoweek.frwww.scc.fr / Ingrid Nappi-Choulet
http://archives.nicematin.com
https://www.lsa-conso.fr / LSA Commerce & Consommation
La Societe des Centres Commerciaux
www.unibail-rodamco.com
www.yveslineradio.com
https://laboratoireurbanismeinsurrectionnel.blogspot.com
http://www.bdp.com (BDP Company)
https://parly2-extension.fr
http://www.bdp.com (BDP Company)
https://parly2-extension.fr
https://business-wishibam-com
https://www-leparisien-fr.
https://englos.aushopping.com/fr
https://www.imediacenter.com
https://wwd.com
https://www.scrapehero.com
https://www.lineaires.com
https://www.fotw.info
https://mall--center-shopping
https://www.company-histories.com
https://www.urw.com (official Westfield Parly 2 website)
"Parly 2" article on Wikipedia "L'encyclopedie libre"
