Thought shopping malls were dead? This developer wants to bring one back to life
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Gardner Group rebrands Nampa Gateway Center as the Sugar District mall.
- Upgrades include new hotel addition, pickleball club, landscaping and shops.
- Long-term plans include apartments and town houses, depending on market conditions.
Salt Lake City developer the Gardner Group is attempting a herculean task that few would take on in 2025: bringing a shopping mall back to life.
The company on Tuesday announced a new name, several store openings and upgrades for the long-declining Nampa Gateway Center, which saw several store closures and numerous vacancies once the Great Recession hit and the Village at Meridian opened in 2013.
The changes to the 65-acre mall, rebranded as the Sugar District, include a new facade and updated landscaping, parking areas and lighting, according to a news release. The mall sits along Garrity Boulevard and Interstate 84 near Saint Alphonsus Medical Center — Nampa.
“The Sugar District represents more than just a facelift — it’s a full revival,” said David Wali, managing partner at the Gardner Group in Boise. “We’ve created a space that feels inviting, energetic and truly local.”
According to the news release, upcoming additions to the Sugar District include a 112-room TownePlace Suites hotel, opening in late July; and a second location for Meridian’s The Flying Pickle indoor pickleball club this fall.
Defying the construction odds in Idaho
The company’s attempt is the latest in a string of self-imposed challenges, including filling the infamous “hole” in downtown Boise and building the Eighth & Main building, more commonly known as the Zions Bank Building, over it.
The company is also redeveloping several aging hotels near the Boise Airport and turning that site into an 183-unit apartment complex, a 240-room hotel and a 12,000 square-foot Hindu temple. That development was paused amid a tangle of lawsuits in 2023 and 2024, but is moving forward after the cases were resolved in November and March.
The rebranding of the Nampa Gateway Center into the Sugar District offers a new life for the mall after it opened in 2007 with J.C. Penney as its anchor. Sports Authority and Macy’s opened in 2009, then the Regal Edwards Nampa Gateway movie theater opened in 2010.
It wasn’t to last. Sports Authority and Macy’s closed in the mid-2010s, then the movie theater shut down in 2022. The Nampa Gateway Center was sold in 2017, then scooped up by the Gardner Group in 2020.
In 2022, Gardner proposed a plan to demolish some of the retail space, repurpose other spots and build 77 town houses and 168 apartments.
The Nampa City Council approved the plans in 2022. According to Weston Arnell, Gardner’s development manager overseeing the Sugar District from its Boise office, the company is still moving forward with its plans for the town houses and apartments “when the market allows it,” he said by phone.
Arnell did not give an estimated timeline for the homes, an estimated development cost or what rents may look like.
Available floor plans at the nearby upscale Station Apartments at Gateway range from $1,375 per month for a studio unit to $2,075 for a three-bedroom unit, according to its listing website.
Stores in the mall — and a block party you can go to
The Sugar District is scheduled to celebrate the rebranding with a block party at the shopping mall from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at 1206 N. Galleria Drive. The re-launch is set to include activities and games, food trucks, music and giveaways from Jabbers Play Cafe & Daycare, YogaSix, Goldfish Swim School, Sparkzone Athletics and D1 Training.
Bus Bar Idaho is offering mocktails, while Sweet Citrus will be serving lemonade, according to the news release.
Attendees will also be able to shop at stores including Suzi Q Boutique, Graples Home Decor, LaDon’s Fine Jewelry, City Wide Facility Solutions, Shoe Carnival, Chipotle, J.C. Penney and Italianesque.
