El Con Shopping Center carries the affectionately abbreviated nickname of the El Conquistador Hotel, which stood just to the west of the original shopping center site.
"El Con Mall opened in 1960-1961 as the first mall in Tucson, Arizona, adjacent to the El Conquistador Hotel. Although initial plans called for the hotel to be part of the mall itself, these plans were later scrapped. An outdoor mall at the time of its opening, El Con Mall was anchored by the local department store Levy's, and chain stores Montgomery Ward and Woolworth."
May 2014 update:
El Con Mall was purchased for $81.7 million by a group fronted by Stanley Kroenke, owner of the Los Angeles Rams (Saint Louis Rams at that time).
Kroenke plans on continuing to operate the nearly 93-acre property as a “vital shopping destination,” according to a press release from Eastdil Secured, a real estate investment banking company in Santa Monica, California, that represents the new owners.
The sale ranks as one of the largest real estate transactions in Tucson history, said Hank Amos, president of Tucson Realty & Trust.
Sources:
Tucson Marketing Index. December 1970, Page 5. (This publication is not held by Pima County Public Library.)
El Con Center, opens a new window | Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia, opens a new window
DaRonco, Darren and Gabriela Rico. "El Con sale official at $81.7 million, opens a new window." Arizona Daily Star. May 20, 2014.
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