Grand Opening of Tysons Corner Expansion Area Draws Record Crowd of Over 214,000 Shoppers on First Weekend
October 20 2005 - 3:59PM
PR Newswire (US)
MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A record crowd of
more than 214,000 people converged on Tysons Corner Center for the
grand opening of its new 362,000-square-foot, three-level expansion
area during the weekend of Friday, Sept. 30 to Sunday, Oct. 2,
exceeding all expectations and creating a buzz reminiscent of the
mid-December holiday shopping season. Shopper traffic throughout
the weekend increased by 23% over the comparable period in 2004,
and grew by 25% over the prior year period the following weekend.
The 2.25 million-square-foot McLean, Va. mall drew approximately
83,000 people on Saturday, Oct. 8 alone, a 34% increase over the
comparable Saturday in 2004. "The response has simply been
phenomenal, with most of our new merchants reporting that Tysons
was the best or one of the best openings in the history of their
companies," said Arthur Coppola, president and chief executive
officer of The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC), which purchased a 50%
interest in Tysons last April as part of its acquisition of
Wilmorite Properties, Inc. and Wilmorite Holdings L.P. The other
50% of Tysons is owned by the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation
(APFC), which, as a key owner of the property for many years, has
been an integral part of prior major improvements to the mall.
Wilmorite acquired its interest in the property in 2002, becoming a
joint venture partner with APFC. "We are also pleased to note that
the expansion area opened better than 97%-leased, 92%-occupied, and
with construction on-budget," Coppola continued. "With Tysons
already the premier shopping venue in the Washington, D.C. market
and one of the top-performing malls in the country, we had very
high expectations for the expansion area. Based on what we have
seen thus far, there's no doubt that this project will take this
property to an even higher level." "It felt like the holiday
shopping season had already started with the tremendous traffic on
opening weekend," commented Kathy Hannon, Tysons' long- time senior
property manager. "And this momentum carried over to the second
weekend. At one point on the second Saturday, every one of our
10,000-plus parking spaces was filled. The entire property has felt
the impact of this expansion, with traffic counts and retail sales
reaching all-time center highs. New tenants are citing unparalleled
sales and many existing tenants, including anchors, are reporting
solid sales increases." Michael J. Nevins, the v.p., leasing for
Macerich's Eastern Property Group who previously led the expansion
area's merchandising effort for Wilmorite, added, "Our original
goal with this expansion was to further extend our retail dominance
in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan market by offering a
selection of 'first-to-market' stores along with other world-class
retailers, entertainment and dining under one roof. Based on our
initial consumer and retailer feedback, we have clearly met our
objective and have created one of the most dominant shopping venues
in the country." The new wing features a 16-screen AMC megaplex
theater with stadium seating, five fine-dining and family style
restaurants, a 10-unit food court with 600 seats, a two-level
Barnes & Noble, and more than 20 additional specialty
retailers. Prominent "new-to-market" retailers include Banana
Republic Petites, The North Face, Williams-Sonoma's new West Elm
furniture store, Z Gallerie, Oakley, Papaya, and Laila Rowe. Other
notable names include Urban Outfitters and its new Free People
concept, Sony Style, Guess?, Lucky Brand Jeans, Mexx, Arhaus
Furniture, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Hollister. Tommy Hilfiger's
newest store concept, H Hilfiger, is scheduled to make its
Washington, D.C. area debut in a 5,000-square-foot space in
February. The wing's restaurants include the new-to-market Brio
Tuscan Grille and Pauli Moto's Asian Bistro (the latter scheduled
to open in late October), as well as Coastal Flats, Gordon Biersch
Brewery Restaurant and T.G.I. Friday's. The expansion area, which
was accompanied by a new 1,675-space parking structure, adds to a
center that already included anchors Nordstrom, Hecht's,
Bloomingdale's, Lord & Taylor and L.L. Bean, and a specialty
store lineup that generated average sales of $650 per square foot
in 2004. The property also includes a strip center anchored by
Circuit City and a 170,000-sq.-ft., 'Class A' office building. In
November 2004, Wilmorite and APFC applied for zoning changes that
could result in entitlements of approximately 3 million square feet
for residential, office, hotel and retail uses on parcels adjoining
the shopping center. The opening of the expansion area was ushered
in by festivities that got underway on the evening of Thursday,
Sept. 29. An invitation-only "Film, Food, Fashion"-themed
fundraising party that was attended by 1,100 guests raised more
than $100,000 for the Washington, D.C. office of the American
Diabetes Association (ADA), the center's designated charity for
2005. In accepting the check, ADA CEO Lynn Nicolas noted that
"Macerich, through Tysons Corner Center, is truly reaching out to
be the social heart of the community." Featured entertainment at
the party, which was offered on all three levels of the center,
included an exclusive Tommy Hilfiger fashion show, complete with a
live appearance by the famed designer. A performance by the
four-time Grammy Award-winning group The Blind Boys of Alabama
rounded out the evening. The Macerich Company, headquartered in
Santa Monica, is a fully integrated self-managed and
self-administered real estate investment trust, which focuses on
the acquisition, leasing, management, development and redevelopment
of regional malls throughout the United States. The Company is the
sole general partner and owns an 81% ownership interest in The
Macerich Partnership, L.P. Macerich now owns interests in
properties totaling approximately 79 million square feet consisting
primarily of interests in 76 regional malls. Additional information
about The Macerich Company can be obtained from the Company's
website at http://www.macerich.com/. DATASOURCE: The Macerich
Company CONTACT: Media; At Macerich, Susan Valentine, Senior VP,
Marketing, +1-310-394-6000; at Parness & Associates Public
Relations, Bill Parness, +1-732-290-0121, both for The Macerich
Company Web site: http://www.macerich.com/
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