SHOPS AT REDBIRD IS A MULTI-AWARD-WINNING REDEVELOPMENT THAT HAS SET NEW STANDARDS URBAN Revitlazaton AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
Despite many challenges over the years, RedBird is our very own comeback fighter, proudly reclaiming its title as the center of activity and the place to be in southern Dallas. It took a village. This transformation couldn’t have happened without the vision, hard work and investment of an extraordinary group of people over the years.
Like many shopping malls built in the late 70s through the 90s, the world changed around Red Bird Mall through a series of recessions, demographic shifts, the rise of online shopping and the decline of American mall culture. From its heyday in the 80s, Red Bird Mall had fallen on hard times, losing its ties with the community with a name change to Southwest Center Mall and bankruptcy in 1997. For a time, it looked like it was going the way of other dying malls.
But the community pulled together, with beloved resident and activist Edna Pemberton once going so far as to intervene when the power to the mall was about to be cut off. City Councilmember Tennell Atkins and Mayor Mike Rawlings worked to keep the mall afloat, and connected investor Peter Brodsky with the former owners of the main mall building to broker a deal in 2015.
Over the last seven years, Brodsky has grown the development, the investors and rebranded the transformation to The Shops at RedBird. The City of Dallas has invested $27.4 million in RedBird since 2016. A diverse group of individual investors who are proponents of social enterprise investing and believers in southern Dallas joined Brodsky and the City of Dallas. Brodsky partnered with Terrence Maiden, CEO of Russell Glen Co., to shore up his management team, real estate heft, and relationships with MWBE vendors.
Together, their efforts are coming to fruition, with a commitment to invest $240 million. The redevelopment of RedBird broke ground in 2018, and the project's first phase is now coming online in 2024. Come to The Shops at RedBird to Work, Shop, Play, Stay and Live. It’s happening.