Triple Five Group is a Canadian conglomerate based in Edmonton, Alberta, which specializes in shopping centres, entertainment complexes, hotels, and banks, along with running three indoor amusement parks. The company owns and operates the three largest malls in North America: the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, the Mall of America in Minnesota, and American Dream in New Jersey, each of which contains a wide variety of entertainment attractions alongside traditional retail.
History Early years (1965–1981) Germez Developments was founded by Jacob Ghermezian in 1965, and his family, the Iranian-Canadian Jewish Ghermezian family, remains the owners and operators of the company today. Jacob's four sons were the core of the business, and after them the brothers' children have begun to take leadership roles in the company, including CEO Don Ghermezian and Braze founder Mark Ghermezian.
In the mid-1970s, Germez Developments was involved in land speculation on the outskirts of Edmonton. The province of Alberta established "restricted development areas" (RDAs) encircling Edmonton and Calgary in 1974, and two years later announced that the areas would be used as "transportation and utility corridors"."Transportation Utility Corridor - Introduction", Alberta Infrastructure. Germez was one of several companies that bought up large parts of the RDA ring around Edmonton, paying higher prices to rural landowners than the government was willing to offer. Despite not being allowed to develop the land, Germez dramatically raised its prices before selling its parcels back to the government."Millions being made on RDA speculation", Medicine Hat News, February 1, 1982. The Ghermezians made an $18 million profit when the Albertan government purchased the land in 1979, and much of that profit was used to finance their first retail project, the West Edmonton Mall.
Entering retail (1981–1992)
The Ghermezians began developing the West Edmonton Mall in 1974.Goyette, Linda, and Carolina Jakeway Roemmich. Edmonton in Our Own Words, p. 329. University of Alberta Press, 2005. Early in the development process, Raphael Ghermezian was faced with allegations of attempted bribery towards an alderman on the Edmonton city council."Alderman dumbfounded when offered $40,000", Lethbridge Herald, July 24, 1974. Eskandar Ghermezian retaliated with accusations of favor-seeking against the son of another Edmonton alderman."Edmonton builder claims alderman's son sought favors", Lethbridge Herald, July 31, 1974. The first phase of the mall was completed in 1981, and Triple Five immediately began further construction for a second phase which opened in 1983 and a third in 1985. These expansions brought the West Edmonton Mall from the largest in Canada to the largest in the world.
In addition to building the West Edmonton Mall, Triple Five also developed the Eaton's Centre mall and mixed-use development in downtown Edmonton, which began development in 1980"Eaton complex costs soar", Winnipeg Free Press, May 4, 1981. and opened in 1986. The Ghermezians held a 50% stake in the complex, alongside Confederation Life Insurance, which bought Triple Five's share of the development for $1 in 1991."Triple Five sells stake in Edmonton mall for $1", Medicine Hat News, March 1, 1991.
In 1985, Triple Five created Peoples Trust, a bank and trust company whose first branch was located in their West Edmonton Mall. When Peoples Trust opened, its primary focus was on residential mortgages and guaranteed investments. Today, there are branches across Canada, and the bank offers several other services, including mortgages for care facilities and other commercial properties, and prepaid credit cards.
After the demolition of the Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota, in 1985, the Ghermezian brothers approached the Bloomington Port Authority with a proposal for their second mall, which would be larger than West Edmonton Mall was at the time."Triple Five gets okay for giant mall project", Lethbridge Herald, July 3, 1985. The project was quickly approved, and ultimately became the Mall of America, which has remained the largest mall in the United States since it opened in 1992.
Searching for a third project (1986–2011)
Triple Five announced its plans in 1986 to build its third major project, considering Toronto, Montreal, and Niagara Falls, New York as possible locations.Martin, Douglas. "A Shopper's Paradise on the Prairie", New York Times, February 23, 1986. Montreal was dropped from consideration soon after, pitting the other two cities against each other for a project that was then dubbed "Fantasyworld".Kolbert, Elizabeth. "Niagara Falls Romances a Builder", New York Times, June 24, 1986. In the Toronto suburb of Mississauga, the first proposed location was rejected and the project was ultimately dropped.Kan, Alan. "5 Unbuilt Projects in Mississauga", InSauga.com, February 19, 2018. In Niagara Falls, the state of New York offered $400 million in subsidies to build Fantasyworld. The state later canceled its offer after deciding that the project was unlikely to be completed while Triple Five was preoccupied with building the Mall of America.Berkman, Seth. "'Dream' land: A look at the Canadian developers behind the Meadowlands megamall project", Inside Jersey magazine, November 17, 2014."Aid Offer Rescinded for Niagara Falls Project", New York Times, April 12, 1987.
The late-1980s Soviet policy of glasnost encouraged Western businesses to seek opportunities in Russia and the other Soviet republics. In December 1988, Triple Five proposed building a megamall in Moscow, competing with the Cyrus Eaton Group's similar proposal in Leningrad."Canadians to build $5-billion Soviet park", Winnipeg Free Press, December 9, 1988. Both proposals were dropped, and within the month Triple Five had moved on to a proposal for a complex in Holbeck, Leeds, England. In addition to over of retail floor space, the Leeds development would have demolished significant parts of Holbeck to build a series of octagonal skyscrapers for mixed-use development.Leeds Centre & Motorways Sites: Initial Background Report March 1989, Triple Five Canada Developments Limited. The project was intended to be completed by 1993, but was never approved."Edmonton mall developers launch major U.K. project", Winnipeg Free Press, December 22, 1988. Other Triple Five proposals prior to 1994 were made in Burnaby, British Columbia, Tampa, Florida, Beijing, China, Burbank, California, Oberhausen, Germany, and various cities in Japan.
The American Dream Mall was first proposed for Silver Spring, Maryland, in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area, in August 1995. A mixed-use development with an area of , Triple Five proposed that only be used for retail space, while also including an NHL-sized ice hockey rink, a large wave pool, an IMAX theater, and a Fantasyland hotel similar to the West Edmonton Mall hotel.Morgan, Perri. "Dream On: Will the Ghermezians’ American Dream become Silver Spring’s nightmare?", Washington City Paper, April 5, 1996. With the support of Montgomery County, the plan grew to include "a multimedia educational facility, sports club, and wellness center", and at the request of a board of local residents, a performing arts center and a miniature golf course were added to the project. As with Fantasyworld in Niagara Falls, local and state governments in Maryland were concerned by the amount of public money that was expected to fund the project. Montgomery County gave up on the American Dream project by the end of 1996, and ultimately the site was used for a smaller commercial development called Downtown Silver Spring.
In the early 2000s, Triple Five fought a legal battle over the majority ownership of the Mall of America. TIAA-CREF, who had held a 27.5% equity stake in the property since 1989, sold its share to Simon Property Group in 1999, making Simon the mall's majority owner. Triple Five sued, arguing that this deal was made in secret and that Simon breached its fiduciary duty in doing so. Simon was forced to sell the 27.5% stake to Triple Five when the case was decided in 2003, making Triple Five the majority owner of the mall it had developed and operated.Pristin, Terry. "Judge Rules Against Simon in Mall Suit", New York Times, September 12, 2003.
Triple Five announced in 2004 that its next major project would be the Great Mall of Las Vegas. While not as large as the Mall of America, the plan for over of floor space still would have placed it among the largest shopping malls in the nation."Company announces plans for largest mall in Las Vegas", Las Vegas Sun, March 25, 2004. The project was approved by local authorities in early 2008 and was expected to begin construction by the end of the year. However, plans for the mall were shelved as a result of the late 2000s recession, and by the end of 2010 Triple Five defaulted on the loan for the mall's intended real estate."Developer buys Great Mall of Las Vegas parcel", Las Vegas Sun, January 4, 2011. The 60-acre parcel was purchased in 2011 by EHB Companies for $6.3 million, and in 2019, the Las Vegas City Council approved plans for 303 single-family homes and 491 apartments to be built on the site.
West Edmonton Mall lost the title of world's largest shopping mall in 2004, with the opening of the Golden Resources Mall in Beijing, China. The following year, the New South China Mall in Dongguan opened and took the title, with an area of over . Triple Five has disputed whether these developments are actually shopping malls, and continues to claim that West Edmonton Mall is the world's largest. In 2005, Triple Five also attempted to enter the Chinese retail market with two proposed projects: the Mall of China in Dalian, and the Triple Five Wenzhou Mall in Wenzhou. Both of these were intended to feature over of floor space, and each would have become the largest mall in the world if completed.Barboza, David. "China, New Land of Shoppers, Builds Malls on Gigantic Scale", New York Times, May 25, 2005.Campanella, Thomas J. The Concrete Dragon: China's Urban Revolution and What it Means for the World, pg. 236. Chronicle Books, 2012. As of 2015, a project called "Triple Five China Dream" had been announced as an addition to the under-construction Beijing Daxing International Airport.Buchanan, Clare. "Mega mall planned for new Beijing airport", China Daily, September 23, 2015.
Mark Ghermezian founded Appboy, a mobile marketing automation company based in New York City, in 2011. He has raised millions in venture capital investments from family members and Triple Five. The company, now known as Braze, advertises that it serves 420 million mobile users.
American Dream projects (2011–present)
On April 29, 2011, Triple Five took ownership of the unfinished Meadowlands Xanadu mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which had been under construction since 2004. The company had previously attempted to develop the site, having made a proposal for "MeadowFest America" in 2002 before construction on Meadowlands Xanadu began.Smothers, Ronald. "New Ideas Unveiled for Site of Meadowlands Arena", The New York Times, September 20, 2002. The project was renamed American Dream, placing it under a brand that had previously been used for the Silver Spring project. The mall was intended to open in fall 2013, but legal disputes with the New York Giants and Jets and financial setbacks have continually delayed construction. The company has pledged 49% of its West Edmonton Mall and Mall of America to finance this project. As with many of Triple Five's projects, the company has requested significant public funding to build American Dream Meadowlands, and has received hundreds of millions of dollars from the state of New Jersey to finish the project. The mall opened on October 25, 2019.