Fashion Mall

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Fashion Mall
Facts and statistics
Location Plantation, Florida, United States
Opening date 1988
Owner U.S. Capital Holdings Group
No. of stores and services 110
No. of anchor tenants 2
Total retail floor area 660,000 sq ft
No. of floors 3

Fashion Mall was a three-level shopping mall in Plantation, Florida, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. The mall recently closed and is undergoing a large-scale renovation project.

Contents

[edit] History

Fashion Mall opened with Lord and Taylor as an anchor store in 1988, and a Macy's was opened in 1994.[1] The mall struggled to attract retail tenants due to competition from Broward Mall, located about a block away. The Lord and Taylor store closed in 2003, when the chain exited the state of Florida.[2] After a series of sales, the property was acquired by U.S. Capital Holdings Group in 2004. The Macy's remained open until 2005, when Hurricane Wilma caused significant damage to the store; on 26 July 2006, Macy's announced it was permanently closing the Fashion Mall store.[1]

[edit] Leadup to closure

After the Macy's closed, the occupancy dwindled to fewer than 20 stores. Adding to the center's woes was an agreement signed by the previous owners with the city of Plantation, agreeing to install upgrades to the mall's fire safety systems. While U.S. Holdings considered plans to redevelop the property, the city pressed to have the upgrades installed, since the deficiencies had been noted since 2003 and nothing had been done to remediate them. After a number of discussions between the city and the owner, the city informed the mall's tenants that they would be required to vacate their locations in the mall by October 15, 2007, and that any occupational licenses held by tenants of the center were revoked.[3]

[edit] Redevelopment

On 25 January 2007, U. S. Capital announced their plans to redevelop the mall into a mixed-use project called "321 North" (named for its address on University Drive).[4] The plan calls for a significant portion of the mall structure to be demolished, and the retail portion to be reconfigured to street-front stores. When completed, there will be approximately 525,000 square feet (49,000 m²) of retail space, more than 300,000 square feet (28,000 m²) of office space in two new buildings, and approximately 600 residential units. The development will be the first in South Florida to adhere to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, incorporating environmentally-friendly materials and construction techniques.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b (26 July 2006). "Macy's Florida announces plans to permanently close Fashion Mall Plantation location". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
  2. ^ Londner, Robin. "May to close all Fla. Lord & Taylor stores", South Florida Business Journal, 30 July 2003. Retrieved on 2007-12-02. 
  3. ^ Fashion Mall occupational license information. City of Plantation. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
  4. ^ U.S. Capital Holdings Group (1 February 2007). "Developers plan $350 Million redevelopment of Plantation Fashion Maa incorporating residential, office, shopping, dining and entertainment components". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
  5. ^ "Green Neighborhood Planned In So. Fla.", NBC6, 20 September 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.