The JANAF Shopping Yard, commonly known as JANAF, is a suburban shopping center located in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

. Opening in 1959,"A look back at the early days of Norfolk's JANAF shopping center"
''Virginian-Pilot'' (Jul 20, 2016) it was one of the first large suburban shopping centers in the United States. The name is an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

for Joint Army Navy Air Force, which refers to the original investment group that was composed of retired and active duty military personnel. JANAF was built at the north-east corner of

Military Highway Military Highway is a four-to-eight-lane roadway built in the South Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia, United States, during World War II. Carrying US 13 for most of its length, it also carries US 58, and US 460 while in Chesapeake. ...

and

Virginia Beach Boulevard Virginia Beach Boulevard is a major connector highway which carries U.S. Route 58 most of its length and extends from the downtown area of Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk to the Oceanfront area of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Virginia Beach, passing throu ...

on property which had formerly been used as an airfield. It occupies more than 80 acres and encompasses more than 880,000 SF. It is across Virginia Beach Boulevard from Military Circle Mall, an indoor mall built in 1970. On July 19, 2016, it was announced that the owner of the McKinley, Inc was placing the shopping center up for sale. CBRE Hampton Roads will represent the owner in sales negotiations. Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc., a company with a primary focus on grocery-anchored centers, said January 22, 2018, that WHLR-JANAF LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the firm, has purchased JANAF Shopping Yard shopping center in Norfolk for $85.6 million. At 887,917 square-feet, JANAF is the largest open-air shopping center in the region. According to CBRE broker Ryan Sciullo who, along with Bill Kent, handled the sale, the transaction represents the largest non-mall retail sale in Hampton Roads in the past five years.

External links

JANAF Shopping Center

JANAF branch of Norfolk Public Library

Janaf Leasing Information on Loop Net

Pix of JANAF Cinema 8 on Theater History Website

References

{{Shopping malls in Virginia Economy of Norfolk, Virginia Shopping malls in Virginia Shopping malls established in 1959 Buildings and structures in Norfolk, Virginia History of Norfolk, Virginia 1959 establishments in Virginia