MALLS: The Mills

The Mills are hybrid malls that has outlets, regular retail, restaurants & entertainment all under one roof. There are 23 Mills properties with 20 still in operation, one dead, one never built, one recently acquired by Simon, and another currently under construction. The first property was built in 1985, while the latest mall was built in 2009 and another Mills opening in 2016. Western Development Corporation from Washington, DC built Potomac, Franklin (Philadelphia), Gurnee & Sawgrass Mills. Then in 1994, the then-newly created The Mills Corporation headed by Lawrence Siegel, more Mills properties were built each year from 1996-2005. Also, there are a couple of Mills in Canada, by Ivanhoe Cambridge. In the early 2000's, the Mills properties were nicknamed by type of malls. The malls in this blog were "Landmarks" while the regular malls are "21st Century Retail" properties. Due to a construction and financial fallout of the currently named "American Dream" in New Jersey, The Mills Corporation was sold to Simon Property Group in 2007 and the majority of properties, including regular retail properties The Mills Corp. acquired in the early 2000's (Vaughan & Pittsburgh Mills were sold prior).

In my opinion, The Mills properties are my favorite malls because each one is expansive, economic generators, tourist grabbers & are VERY COLORFUL!!! They are not the regular all-white-colored malls. About each mall is broken up into "Neighborhoods" which may be a fashion portion, a themed part of a mall, or even a way-finding navigation for shoppers. Since the re-opening of Opry Mills in 2012, a few Mills properties has been recently renovated, including Grapevine & Philadelphia Mills.

The Mills Corporation introduced the racetrack mall design with Ontario Mills in 1996 which made the malls easy to navigate inside and has a smaller footprint rather than many linear malls that we know. Examples are shown by the maps of most properties. The racetrack design is now used for many outdoor outlet malls being built since the 2000's and even the present.

I have been to four Mills properties (which will be marked by * at the mall's name) and saw Sugarloaf but did not visit the property. Each property listed will have details on size, opening date, location and map from their respective websites.

So, let's "EXPERIENCE THE MILLS EFFECT!!"

Arizona Mills
Anchors: 16
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,240,000 sq.ft.
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Opened: 1997
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 175
Website: www.simon.com/mall/arizona-mills
Map:

Arundel Mills*

Anchors: 18
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,561,000 sq.ft.
Location: Hanover, Maryland
Opened: November 2000
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 200
Website: www.simon.com/mall/arundel-mills
Map:

Cincinnati Mills (Forest Fair Village--DEAD)

Anchors: 12 at peak
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,500,000 sq.ft.
Location: Forest Park, Ohio
Opened: Original mall-1989, Cincinnati Mills-2004, redeveloping in 2015
Owner: North Star Port Authority
Stores: 10 currently, up to 150 at peak
Map (from 2005):

Colorado Mills

Anchors: 10
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,100,000 sq.ft.
Location: Lakewood, Colorado
Opened: 2002
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 200
Website: www.simon.com/mall/colorado-mills
Map: 

Concord Mills*

Anchors: 18
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,339,000 sq.ft.
Location: Concord, North Carolina
Opened: 1999
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 200
Website: www.simon.com/mall/concord-mills
Map:

CrossIron Mills

Anchors: 18
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,122,643 sq.ft.  
Location: Rocky View, Alberta, Canada
Opened: August 19, 2009
Owner: Ivanhoe Cambridge
Stores: 183
Website: www.crossironmills.com
Map:

Grapevine Mills

Anchors: 23
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,776,000 sq.ft.
Location: Grapevine, Texas
Opened: 1997
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 180
Website: www.simon.com/mall/grapevine-mills
Map:

Great Mall (of the Bay Area)

Anchors: 17
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,359,000 sq.ft.
Location: Milpitas, California
Opened: 1994
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 200
Website: www.simon.com/mall/great-mall
Map: 

Gurnee Mills

Anchors: 18
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,913,000 sq.ft.
Location: Gurnee, Illinois
Opened: August 8, 1991
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 200
Website: www.simon.com/mall/gurnee-mills
Map: 

Katy Mills 

Anchors: 18
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,638,000 sq.ft.
Location: Katy, Texas
Opened: 1999
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 175
Website: www.simon.com/mall/katy-mills
Map: 

The Mills at Jersey Gardens

Anchors: 12
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,300,000 sq.ft.
Location: Elizabeth, New Jersey
Opened: October 21, 1999
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 230
Website: www.simon.com/mall/the-mills-at-jersey-gardens
Map: 

Ontario Mills

Anchors: 20
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,470,000 sq.ft.
Location: Ontario, California
Opened: 1996
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 200
Website: www.simon.com/mall/ontario-mills
Map: 

Opry Mills 

Anchors: 15
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,163,000 sq.ft.
Location: Nashville Tennessee
Opened: 2000-2010 (major city flood closed the mall for 2 years), 2012-present
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 200
Website: www.simon.com/mall/opry-mills
Map:

Outlets at Orange (The Block)

Anchors: 16
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 804,000 sq.ft.
Location: Orange, California
Opened: 1998
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 120
Website: www.simon.com/mall/the-outlets-at-orange
Map:

Philadelphia Mills (Franklin Mills)*
Anchors: 17
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,600,000 sq.ft.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Opened: May 11, 1989
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 200
Website: www.simon.com/mall/philadelphia-mills
Map: 



Pittsburgh Mills (The Galleria & The Village)

Anchors: 9
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,100,000 sq.ft.
Location: Tarentum, Pennsylvania
Opened: July 2005
Owner: Zamias
Stores: 170
Website: www.pittsburghmills.com
Map:

Potomac Mills*

Anchors: 19
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,526,000 sq.ft.
Location: Woodbridge, Virginia
Opened: September 1985
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 200
Website: www.simon.com/mall/potomac-mills
Map:

Sawgrass Mills

Anchors: 23
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 2,306,000 sq.ft.
Location: Sunrise, Florida
Opened: 1990
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 370
Website: www.simon.com/mall/sawgrass-mills
Map:

St. Louis Outlet Mall (St. Louis Mills)



Anchors: 11
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,194,610 sq.ft.
Location: Hazelwood, Missouri
Opened: November 2003
Owner: Woodmont
Stores: 170
Website: www.stlouisoutletmall.com
Map:

Sugarloaf Mills (Discover Mills)

Anchors: 14
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,180,000 sq.ft.
Location: Lawrenceville, Georgia
Opened: November 2001
Owner: Simon Property Group
Stores: 180
Website: www.simon.com/mall/sugarloaf-mills
Map:

Tewksbury Mills (Never Built)

Anchors: ~5
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 750,000 sq.ft. (First planned to be up to 2.2 million Sq.Ft.)
Location: Tewksbury, Massachusetts
Opening (Projected): 2001 or 2002 
Owner: Mills Corp
Stores: 100

Tsawwassen Mills

Anchors: 16
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,200,000 sq.ft.
Location: Tsawwassen First Nation, British Columbia, Canada
Opening: Spring 2016 
Owner: Ivanhoe Cambridge
Stores: 200
Website: www.ivanhoecambridge.com/en/shopping-centres/projects/development/tsawwassen-mills


Vaughan Mills

Anchors: 16
Gross Leasing Area/Mall's size: 1,116,450 sq.ft.
Location: Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
Opened: November 4, 2004
Owner: Ivanhoe Cambridge
Stores: 190
Website: www.vaughanmills.com
Map: 

WORKS CITED:
Each individual mall website
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_Corporation
www.ivanhoecambridge.com
www.labelscar.com/massachusetts/tewksbury-mills
www.simon.com
www.simoncorpoverview.com
www.zamias.com
www.woodmont.com

P.S.:There are other properties that has similar layouts as the Mills Properties, such as 

• Dolphin Mall
• Great Lakes Crossing Outlets (initially to be built by The Mills Corp. as Auburn Mills)
• Great Mall of the Great Plains (dead)
• Outlet Collections of Seattle (Jersey Gardens is now a Simon Mills property)