Lindale Mall expansion will add retailers, restaurants

Construction has begun on a 14,600-square-foot expansion of Lindale Mall that is expected to add shops and restaurants to the 53-year-old retail center.

The single-story addition will be located on the east end of the food court on the Collins Road side of Lindale. Individual tenants are expected to file building plans for their location within the addition.

While the expansion will eliminate some of the mall's parking spaces, Joe Mailander, program manager for the Cedar Rapids development services department, said that will not be a problem.

"Lindale has really been overparked for some time," Mailander said. "It will still have more than enough parking spaces to meet requirements."

Lindale owner Simon Property Group was unavailable for comment.

The last expansion at Lindale occurred in 1996-1997 when a three-phase, $15 million project began with a 500-stall parking ramp at the west end of the Collins Road side of the mall. The sec0nd phase involved a 56,000-square-foot addition that included a 500-seat food court and six new retailers.

The final phase of the 59-week project added an elevator near Younkers to provide greater access to the lower level of the mall, a fountain in the middle of the mall and new canopies erected at the mall's entrances.

The expansion at project at Lindale comes as work begins on a $90 million transformation of Westdale Mall. A demolition crew from D.W. Zinser in Walford began stripping out the interior of the former Von Maur store last week, in preparation for it to house some of the smaller shops located in sections of the mall slated for eventual demolition.

Demolition of the former Montgomery Ward store is expected to start around July 1. J.C. Penney's and Younkers are expected to remain as anchors, joined by retailers, restaurants, office space and potentially senior living housing, condominiums and a hotel.