The Aventura Mall is a super-regional shopping mall in Aventura, Florida, a northern suburb of Miami. It is the largest conventional shopping mall in Florida, having a gross leasable area of 2,700,000 square feet (250,000Â m2), and is the third largest shopping center in the United States. The mall has three floors of retail space, comprising more than 300 retailers. In addition there is a food court with eighteen fast food eateries, as well as several chains and other restaurants at the mall's entrance.
The mall is currently anchored by Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, J.C. Penney, Macy's (in two separate locations), Sears, and AMC Aventura 24 Theatres. The mall also serves as a transit hub between Miami-Dade Transit and Broward County Transit, as each has several routes that meet there.
History
In April 1983, the Oxford Development Company, led by partners Donald Soffer, Edward J. Lewis, Mark E. Mason, Eugene Lebowitz and Ray Parello officially dedicated Aventura Mall. There would be four anchors in the original, 1.2-million-square-foot (110,000Â m2), complex: Lord & Taylor, J.C. Penney (opened April 28, 1983), Sears (opened July 6, 1983) and Macy's (the first in Florida, in a three story structure with Spanish architecture which became the template for future Macy's in South Florida, dedicated October 1, 1983).
On board as an original investor in the project was mall-developer Edward J. DeBartolo Sr.. The mall was originally designed to accommodate a fifth anchor, and there was even a section of drywall in place where its mall entrance would be located.
Soon after its construction Soffer left Oxford. As part of the break-up of assets, Soffer's new firm, Turnberry Associates assumed control of the Aventura Mall. In 1996 the DeBartolo Realty Corporation, which owned the minority interest once held by Edward J. DeBartolo, was acquired by Simon Property Group.
In 1996, ground was broken for a major expansion of Aventura Mall. The addition, built onto the southeast end of the existing complex, consisted of a three-story atrium with an AMC Theatres multiplex cinema and restaurants at a new entrance. A two-story Rainforest Cafe also opened, but was closed just a few years later and a Zara clothing store took its space, which then was subsequently replaced by an H&M on December 14, 2012. Part of the new development were two three-story parking garages surrounding the new anchor stores' southeast facades.
Two of the original anchors, J.C. Penney and Lord and Taylor, were enlarged and two department stores were built to anchor the addition. A three-story Bloomingdale's came inline November 8, 1997, with the new southeast mall wing being dedicated in December. The mall's three-story Burdines opened August 1, 1999.
Burdines and Macy's were merged in early 2004 by their common parent, Federated Department Stores, to form Burdines-Macy's and a year later "simply" Macy's. Both locations at Aventura Mall were retained, with the original Macy's being devoted to Women's and Kids' Fashions, and the former Burdines location housing Men's and Home Furnishings departments. By 2005 Lord & Taylor had closed their location citing a weak and competitive marketplace, which was also before their sale to Saks Fifth Avenue in 2006.
In July 2005, Nordstrom announced they would construct a store adjacent to the vacant Lord & Taylor, which would be demolished and rebuilt as additional mall retail space. As part of the pending Nordstrom wing expansion, the rest of the mall underwent a $20 million renovation in late 2006. The Nordstrom wing officially opened on February 15, 2008.
In 2014, Aventura Mall owners, Turnberry Associates, proposed adding a three-story, 241,000-square-foot (22,400Â m2) retail wing and a seven-level parking garage. If approved by Aventura city officials, this expansion to 2.7Â million square feet (250,000Â m2) of retail space would make the Aventura Mall the second largest in America.
In 2014. Sears announced that it wants to close and demolish the store and auto center and replace it with a lifestyle center, called the Esplanade at Aventura.
Location
The mall is located at 19501 Biscayne Boulevard (US 1), Aventura, FL 33180.
Aventura Mall is easily accessible by Interstate 95 (Head east on Ives Dairy Road and proceed south on U.S. 1)
Anchor stores
- Bloomingdale's; 3 floors, 253,600 square feet (23,560Â m2)
- J.C. Penney; 2 floors, 196,684 square feet (18,272.5Â m2)
- Macy's
- Macy's Women's & Children's Store; 3 floors, 252,000 square feet (23,400Â m2)
- Macy's Men's, Home & Furniture Store; 3 floors, 225,000 square feet (20,900Â m2)
- Nordstrom; 2 floors, 167,000 square feet (15,500Â m2) (formerly Lord & Taylor)
- Sears; 2 floors, 191,809 square feet (17,819.6Â m2)
Junior anchors:
- AMC Theatres (located on 3rd floor)
- H&M (located on 2nd floor)
- Restoration Hardware (located on 1st floor)
- Forever 21 (2 floors)
See also
- List of shopping malls in South Florida
- City of Aventura
References
External links
- Aventura Mall official website