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MURRAY — One of the state's largest shopping centers is expanding yet again.
General Growth Properties Wednesday announced a 50,000-square-foot expansion at Fashion Place mall with a completion date scheduled for spring 2017.
The project will include additional retail and restaurant space, updated interior dcor and exterior storefront finishes, enhanced landscaping, along with two new mall entrances. The completion of the expansion will coincide with the opening of the new 160,000-square-foot, two-level Macy's department store, said mall general manager Mark Thorsen.
"This expansion will add a great new mix of tenants to the center's already stellar retail lineup," he said. "The next phase of development will further set it apart as one of the top shopping destinations in the Salt Lake Valley."
Over the past year the mall has added a number of first-to-market retailers, as well as a 200,000-square-foot flagship Dillard's store. Demolition and construction activities for the expansion are currently underway.
Fashion Place is owned and managed by Chicago-based General Growth Properties, which operates a total of four shopping centers in Utah. Nationwide, the company owns or has interest in 120 regional shopping centers across 40 states generating just over $3 billion in yearly revenue.
Over the past five years, significant redevelopment of the center has taken place, with 230,000 square feet of new retail space added to the mall, including an expanded 138,000-square-foot Nordstrom, an architectural redesign of the interior and an expanded food court, among other upgrades. The latest renovations follow in the footsteps of another large expansion project completed four years ago.
In November 2011, the mall marked the end of a four-year, 98,000-square-foot expansion of the state's highest grossing retail center. At the time, the mall's owner declined to give specific details about the cost of the overall renovation, but estimates ranged in the tens of millions of dollars. Similarly, Thorsen would not offer any financial details regarding the current expansion project, either.
He did note, however, that the mall currently has about 150 stores on its retail roster, along with seven sit-down restaurants and eight fast-food establishments in the food court.
Demand for retail space at the mall is increasing, he said, which has prompted this latest expansion project. He also says growth at the center is at a historic level.
"We're at an all-time high in sales," Thorsen said. "Business has been great for us."
Contributing: Sam Penrod
