Aventura Mall
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Aventura Mall, is a large upscale enclosed shopping mall located in Aventura, Florida, a suburb of Miami. It is the largest conventional shopping mall in Florida, having more than 2.3 million ft² (210,000 m²) of retail selling space, three floors, and over 250 shops. In 2007, the former Lord & Taylor location will be converted to mall space, and a new Nordstrom will be constructed. With this, the Aventura Mall will become the fifth largest shopping center in the United States.
Its anchors include Bloomingdale's, J.C. Penney, Macy's Women's and Children's, Macy's Men's and Home Furniture, Sears, and a AMC 24 Theatres. Aventura Mall's food court contains eighteen fast food eateries and has several resturants at the main entrance.
History
Aventura Mall opened in 1983 with four anchors: J.C. Penney (relocated from an older, smaller location at The Mall at 163rd Street), Macy's (the first in Florida; in a three story structure with a tile roof), Sears, and Lord & Taylor. The mall was originally designed to have a fifth anchor, and there was even a section of drywall in place where its mall entrance would be located. But instead, the mall would be expanded way beyond just one store.A major expansion was completed in 1998, in which the two-story mall was extended and two anchors were added: Bloomingdales, and a Burdines which would open in August, 1999 (relocated from The Mall at 163rd Street, though the Burdines there remained open for a year after it opened). The same project also saw the addition of a three-story atrium with a multiplex cinema, and a few restaurants. A rare two-story Rainforest Cafe also opened, but was closed just a few years later and a Zara clothing store took the spot. Two multi-level parking deck structures were added as well.
Anchor changes
The Lord and Taylor store closed due to the chain's financial problems. All other Florida stores also closed, except for the one at The Florida Mall, which is expected to in a few months.Burdines was renamed Burdines-Macy's, then finally just Macy's in March, 2005. Since there was already a Macy's in the mall, the former Burdines was turned into Macy's Men's and Home Furniture, while the original Macy's was changed to Macy's Women's and Children's.
Location
Although the mall is not located on a freeway or Interstate (I-95 is over two miles away) it does have an exit off of the William Lehman Causeway, a mile-long road built to freeway standards that connects the beaches with US Highway 1 (Biscayne Blvd.). The mall opened around the same time as the causeway, which was built at a high enough level to eliminate drawbridge delays over the busy Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. That, along with Biscayne Blvd., generate more than enough traffic to sustain the mall.Aventura Mall opened in unincorporated North Miami Beach. However, the phenomenal success of the mall, the development it attracted, and the area being called "Aventura", the surrounding area was incorporated into the city of Aventura.
External link
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