Beau Monde Mall

Beau Monde Mall

Location	Greenwood Village, Colorado, United States
Coordinates	39°36′38.21″N 104°53′43.68″W / 39.6106139°N 104.8954667°W / 39.6106139; -104.8954667
Address	8081 East Orchard Road
Opened	1985
Closed	1989
Architect	Tatman Associates
Anchor tenants	None (Space for 1)
Floor area	200,000 sq ft (19,000 m2)
Floors	2

Beau Monde Mall was a shopping mall in Greenwood Village, Colorado, United States. It was located at 8081 East Orchard Road, near Interstate 25, and opened in 1985.^[1] The building was designed by Tatman Associates and contained approximately 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m²) of space.^[1]

The mall was not commercially successful and was never fully leased.^[2] In 1989, the property was sold to the ministry of Marilyn Hickey and converted for use as the Happy Church.^[1][2]

History

Beau Monde Mall was built as a smaller upscale shopping center in the Denver metropolitan area. The Los Angeles Times described the project as a $34 million center planned for boutiques and restaurants in a wealthy suburban area.^[2] Its design included brick arches, rustic tile floors, fountains, columns, and wrought-iron lighting.^[1][2]

The center opened during a downturn in the Denver economy and had difficulty attracting tenants.^[2] In 1989, the property was sold after only a few years of retail use. SAH Archipedia gives the purchase price as $7.8 million, while the Los Angeles Times reported a price of $6.5 million.^[1][2]

After the sale, parts of the former mall were converted for religious use. The Los Angeles Times reported that a former cosmetics boutique became a chapel, a restaurant became a prayer center, and a department-store space became the church's main sanctuary.^[2]

Architecture

The design of the mall was based on the concept of the "European shopping village". In 1999, the mall was the subject of a case study by M. Gordon Brown in the Journal of Real Estate Research, which examined the relationship between spatial configuration and shopping mall performance. Brown, M. Gordon (1999). "Design and Value: Spatial Form and the Economic Failure of a Mall" (PDF). Journal of Real Estate Research. 17 (1–2): 189–225.

SAH Archipedia identifies Tatman Associates as the architect of the mall.^[1] The building is described as having rust-colored brick floors and walls, marble fountains, Tuscan columns, and wrought-iron lamps.^[1]

A 1999 article in the Journal of Real Estate Research discussed Beau Monde as an example of a failed luxury shopping mall and compared its layout with Tamarac Square.^[3]

Conversion to church

After the mall failed as a retail center, it was purchased in 1989 by Pastor Wallace Hickey's Happy Church and converted for religious use.^[1] The Los Angeles Times reported that the ministry of televangelist Marilyn Hickey bought Beau Monde for $6.5 million after it went to auction, using the former mall as the new headquarters for the 3,000-member Happy Church.^[2] Several former retail spaces were repurposed: a cosmetics boutique became a 300-seat chapel, a former French restaurant became a phone-in prayer center, an Ann Taylor store became an art publicity office, and a space reserved for a department store became the congregation's main sanctuary.^[2]

The church was later known as Orchard Road Christian Center. In 2017, Alberta Development purchased the ten-acre property at 8081 East Orchard Road, with plans to convert the former Happy Church building to other uses.

Redevelopment

The City of Greenwood Village approved redevelopment of the former Marilyn Hickey property at 8081 East Orchard Road with a Whole Foods grocery store, two freestanding retail pads, and 54 brownstone homes. Demolition of the existing building could begin after final plat and subdivision approvals.^[4]

References