[4] The mall was originally owned by Valley West Shopping Center, Inc.; the design by Edward M. Cohon and Associates featured Spanish architectural elements.

[1] One of those companies, Ericson Development, went on to start construction on a similar shopping center to be built in Tempe and also anchored by Ward and the Boston Store; they stopped work on the mall due to cost overruns.

After intense pressure from community groups to maintain a presence at the mall,[12] Montgomery Ward opened an "Outlet World" store, the third of its kind for the chain, as a replacement at Valley West.

[14] In 1997, General Factory opened in the former Boston Store anchor, but the Outlet World closed, along with the Wards auto center, which had remained in operation after the banner conversion.

This culminated in a lawsuit filed on December 31, 1998, claiming the city interfered in his efforts to attract tenants and retain a charter school, Maya High School, that was leasing space in the mall;[22] Maya held classes in a former arcade and used a former auto parts store as office space.

[23] The mall made one last notable appearance when shooting of the movie Arac Attack—released in 2002 as Eight Legged Freaks—used the deserted shopping center in February 2001, with the former Montgomery Ward converted into a sound stage.

[25] This helped facilitate part of a redevelopment agreement with The Ellman Companies, a condition of the same deal that brought the Phoenix Coyotes to Glendale.

[26] The mall was then mostly demolished in 2002, except for the portion used by Maya High School; after it moved out in May, police and federal agents used the building for training exercises before the remaining section was torn down, allowing the Ellman Northern Crossing power center to be built.