Fourth in a series
To his grief, Joseph K. Kivel found that the development of Park Mall took more than twice as long as the establishment of El Con Mall.
As early as 1958 — two years before El Con opened — Kivel sought the zoning to allow for Park Mall.
In June 1959, Kivel's attorney was in court to begin what turned out to be a four-year zoning battle that would see lawsuits, neighborhoods up in arms, petitions, a secret meeting with city officials and final zoning approval in exchange for more than 9 acres for a city park.
The county had granted zoning approval for commercial development on Kivel's land, but the city annexed the area before the zoning was final.
In a series of legal maneuvers that kept Kivel's attorneys busy for years, he walked the problem through the zoning commission, the council and public hearings.
In May 1963, the late Tucson real estate broker Newsom Holesapple secretly met with city officials at the old Pioneer Hotel, offering a free library site in exchange for proper zoning for the Sears site at Park Mall. Mayor Lew Davis and Planning Director Andre M. Faure confirmed the offer, according to a press report.
Finally, Kivel offered to donate slightly more than 9 acres to the city for a park with two Little League diamonds and a 6-foot brick wall to buffer the neighborhoods south and west from the noise of the future mall.
Attorney Russell Jones, representing the neighborhoods, said substantial agreement had been reached with Kivel over the impact of the mall on the Rogers Elementary School area. In the mid-1960s, Kivel quietly moved into the same middle-class area, taking a house within a couple blocks of Jones.
Sears opened at the future Park Mall in 1965, but other than the construction of Furr's Cafeteria, further development dragged on for eight years. The Park Mall site consisted mostly of a vast expanse of bulldozed desert.
El Con merchants who describe Kivel as a stubborn, tough negotiator say his tactics are simple. He refuses to bend. He states a price and will let his property sit vacant until he gets it. Broadway-Hale Stores of Los Angeles, now Carter Hawley Hale Stores Inc., had announced in 1969 that it had plans to build a store at the Park Mall site, but as late as 1972 it was still negotiating with Kivel.
The developer says that eventually market conditions justified a second mall and both Broadway (now Broadway Southwest) and Diamonds agreed to join Sears as anchor stores.
In an account that Kivel disputes, a well-informed source says the opening of Park Mall involved an unusual drama.
The source says that since Park Mall was the first big challenger to what is now El Con Mall, its managers wanted to make a big splash for the grand opening in early 1975, but they had a big problem.
Diamonds flatly refused to open its doors adjoining the mall, claiming that construction provisions spelled out in its lease had yet to be met.
After a furious fight between mall representatives and Diamonds executives, and just nights before the opening, the two sides met once more to try to get the doors open for the big day.
One man sat on a cement bench in the darkened mall corridor, listening to the complaints. In a moment of frustration he asked the Diamonds executives what assurances would guarantee that the mall would be fully open.
"We want your word that the needed construction will be completed within 30 days" the executives said.
The man took out his wallet, removed a torn and folded blank check, borrowed a pen and scribbled out a check to Diamonds for $1 million. "If the improvements aren't made within 30 days, cash the check," he reportedly told the stunned executives.
The man, says the source, was Joe Kivel, though the developer denies any such incident.
Kivel also disagrees with others about the opening itself.
Record crowds jammed the new mall. Balloons, clowns and half of Tucson showed up for the festivities. Joe Kivel, forever fearful of drawing attention to himself, was reportedly far from the spotlight.
"I tried to get Joe to say a few words, but he just wouldn't do it. I even wrote the speech," remembers Jim Hays, manager of the mall.
Kivel reportedly preferred to blend in with the thousands of shoppers who surged through his newest and most successful investment. The developer said he actually gave a short speech and wore a new suit for the occasion, but said he has no photos of the event.
Today, Kivel still walks the mall almost daily, a quiet and plain dressed man unnoticed by the kids, gum-chewers, mothers pushing strollers, old folks and other shoppers.
Tomorrow: Kivel’s real estate holdings.
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