Hilltop Horizon

The mall remained largely unchanged until 1996, when the Emporium store closed following its merger with Federated, who owned Macy's. The store remained vacant until October 1998, when Macy's refurbished and relocated their existing store into the former Emporium space and closed the original Macy's store. The former Macy's space would remain vacant until Walmart took over the space in Spring 2007.

The GM Pension Trust assumed full ownership of Hilltop Mall in 1998, retaining Taubman Centers as manager.[10] In 2004, the GM Pension Trust sold a half-interest in a portfolio of shopping centers, including Hilltop, to The Mills Corporation, which also assumed management of the center. After several years of delay, Walmart opened on April 11, 2007 on the site Macy's vacated in 1998.

In July 2007, Simon Property Group purchased the entire Mills Corporation portfolio, including other Bay Area properties: Stoneridge Shopping Center in Pleasanton, California and Great Mall in Milpitas, California. On December 23, 2011, a shopping frenzy over retro Air Jordan shoes resulted in temporary closure of the mall after shots were fired.[11] The mall later reopened, but sales of the shoe were banned for the day.[11] Similar events occurred at the nearby Westfield Solano and the Bayfair Center malls in Fairfield and San Leandro, respectively.[11]

In August 2012, Greg Maloney, president of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Retail, was appointed receiver by the Contra Costa Superior Court to assume management of the property due to Simon's loan default. JLL retained Michael Piazzola as its managing receiver. The property was foreclosed upon in June 2013, and Jones Lang LaSalle was retained as the manager post-foreclosure.

On March 17, 2017, it was announced that JCPenney would be closing as part of a plan to close 138 stores nationwide.[12] The store closed on July 31, 2017.[13]

• 
  Closed JCPenney mall entrance (Oct 2017)
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  Exterior of former JCPenney anchor (Oct 2017)
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  Interior of former JCPenney anchor (2019)
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  Rotunda (2018), with spiral ramp, fountain, and Solar Cantata
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  Similar rendered view of Rotunda after proposed project for mall revitalization.
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  Pending name change to The Shops at Hilltop (2019)

Also in July 2017, LBG Real Estate Companies, LLC[14] and Aviva Investors announced the purchase of the Hilltop Mall property. The property went into foreclosure by Simon Property Group in 2012 and then proceeded to be put up for auction before it was bought by LBG and Aviva. LBG had begun the process of rebranding, redeveloping and upgrading both the interior and exterior of the mall structural buildings. Working with urban planners, LBG developed a strategy to transform the property during 2020 and beyond.[15]

In September 2017, the shopping center rebranded as The Shops at Hilltop, representing a new vision to modernize the property. The renovated shopping center, as designed by Onyx Creative,[16] would have contained new dining, entertainment, office, and retail tenants. After redevelopment, The Shops at Hilltop would have hosted 99 Ranch Market as a new anchor tenant and a variety of dining options representing many different cuisines.[17] There were also plans for personal care services and several entertainment options including a live theater[18] as well as a mix of creative office tenants to the center connecting the shopping, dining, and cultural experiences to the workplace.

In addition to the Shops, LBG had created a master plan for the long-term, mixed-use redevelopment of the fully entitled 77-acre site which would have complemented the existing shopping center. This larger mixed-use development, named Hilltop by the Bay, referred to all the development occurring on the old Hilltop Mall Property. Hilltop by the Bay would have had more than 3,500 housing units, as well as office, hotel, and entertainment uses.

Beyond the existing building, the Hilltop by the Bay development would have built up the area to create a suburban village on the Hilltop property. The site was entitled for 16.7 million square feet of overall building area, including up to 9,670 housing units. This would have allowed for expansion and development with a variety of uses including a Marriott Residence Inn.[19] The mixed-use offered by the Hilltop by the Bay development would have enabled a "work, live, play" environment for those who utilized the full breadth of retail spaces that were intended to be offered once the development was completed.

LBG stated in July 2018 the 99 Ranch Market was scheduled to open in late 2019,[20] but the project was never completed. LBG failed to improve the site as promised and the COVID-19 pandemic in the San Francisco Bay Area caused retail occupancy to plummet from 50% to 16%. LBG subsequently announced plans to rename the location as "The East Bay Science and Technology Center".[21] 99 Ranch decided to withdraw from the project and other planned tenants followed suit.[22]

On February 6, 2020, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of the chain's plan to close dozens of stores nationwide. The store closed in April 2020.[23] The mall closed almost all stores during the COVID-19 pandemic starting in mid-March 2020, with the exception of Walmart.[24]

• Hilltop Mall
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  Walmart
• 
  JCPenney
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  Interior entrance to Sears
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  Interior entrance to Macy's
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  99 Ranch Market intended to open in 2019 in the former JCPenney space
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  Direct entrance to mall interior, not passing through an anchor store
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  Holiday display in Hilltop Mall Rotunda

On January 5, 2021, it was announced the Macy's at Hilltop would be closing in April 2021 as part of a plan to close 46 stores nationwide.[25] After Macy's closed in March 2021, Walmart became the only traditional anchor store left.

In February 2021, Richmond mayor Tom Butt announced that logistics company Prologis was buying most of the land with the intention to build a logistics center along with other developments, including housing.[26] In April 2021, Prologis completed the acquisition of the site for $117 million; they announced plans to demolish the mall and reuse the site: "The purchase of the 78-acre site marks the beginning of Prologis' efforts to pursue a mixed-use development that includes residential and retail as well as the modern logistics facilities that are the company's specialty."[27] Walmart was scheduled to depart the site by March 30.[26] The mall was closed permanently on April 22, 2021.[2]

• Capwell's, opened with mall in 1976, closed in 1996 following its merger with Federated; Macy's refurbished and relocated their existing store to this space.
• JCPenney, opened with mall in 1976 (originally located in downtown Richmond); closed on July 31, 2017.
• Sears, opened in 1990 and closed in March 2020
• Macy's, opened with mall in 1976 in space now occupied by Walmart; closed March 21, 2021.