Sawgrass Mills is a super-regional outlet mall in Sunrise, Florida, located next to the Amerant Bank Arena. Owned by Simon Property Group, which manages the mall, and KanAm Grund Group, a German-based investment firm, the mall encompasses of retail, dining, and entertainment space. It is one of the largest shopping centers in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area, being ranked as the 12th largest mall in the United States. The mall was developed by Western Development Corporation (which completed a corporate spin-off as Mills Corporation in April 1994).
Overview
Designed in the shape of an alligator, Sawgrass Mills opened in October 1990 as the third Landmark Mills mall (and flagship) developed by Western Development Corporation. The mall has been expanded multiple times since then. There are over 400 retail outlets and name brand discounters, and a hotel operated by AC Hotels by Marriott located on-property.
Because of its size, Sawgrass Mills is divided into three parts: the main mall, The Oasis, and The Colonnade Outlets; the latter two are outdoor segments connected to the mall. It is named after saw grass, Cladium mariscus subsp. jamaicense, a very common plant in the Everglades. The mall's west Broward location was part of the Everglades before human development and is less than a mile from the Everglades (just beyond the nearby Sawgrass Expressway/State Road 869).
History 1988–1990: Planning and construction
In 1988, the Washington, D.C.-based Western Development Corporation, led by Herbert S. Miller, announced that they would develop a shopping center in South Florida. This would be their third Landmark Mills mall, after Potomac Mills opening in September 1985 and Franklin Mills in May of the following year. It would be built on a parcel of land in Sunrise, just outside Fort Lauderdale. Previously, the land and surrounding area was composed of swamps and rural areas, once connected to the nearby Everglades. The mall would have seven anchors and over 200outlet stores. On April 21, Western would announce that three anchors were officially moving into the mall: Sears, Waccamaw Pottery, and a European grocery store. The grocery store would be removed as a planned anchor. An IKEA would also be in the plans; however, an agreement was never reached between them and Western.
On May 24, 1988, the Miami-based architectural firm Arquitectonica would unveil design plans for Sawgrass Mills. The plans included entrance designs and the mall's exterior, and its three-quarters-of-a-mile-long length, though no information on the interior would be revealed yet. Construction would officially begin that month. The mall was developed as a joint venture with the German-based KanAm Grund Group, an investment firm that frequently partnered with Western and Mills. In April 1989, the mall announced that BrandsMart USA would become another anchor tenant. The 49th Street Galleria, an amusement center with bowling, arcade games, roller skating, and restaurants, would also be a planned anchor. It would be the second location after opening in Franklin Mills the same year. The landscape architects for the project were Craven Thompson & Associates, Inc.
In May 1990, a few months before the mall's opening, two more anchors would officially be part of the mall: Phar-Mor and the 49th Street Galleria. On May 21, 1990, Robert Hottinger, a construction worker installing drywall, fell from a scaffold at the mall, passing away four days later. Later, VF Factory Outlet, Inc. would become the last official anchor. In July 1990, marketing and advertising for the new mall would begin appearing across the region, including airplane banners, newspaper ads, and television and radio commercials, leading up to its opening in three months. Media previews would also be held. On August 20, 1990, Waccamaw opened its store more than a month before Sawgrass Mills opened. This would be due to confusion with another anchor, Sears, supposedly opening the weekend prior, inspiring Waccamaw to open as well. Sears Outlet would officially open on September 5, 1990.
1990–2001: Grand opening and The Oasis at Sawgrass Mills
After two years of construction, Sawgrass Mills celebrated its grand opening on October 4, 1990 at 9a.m. EDT, with a parade led by Apollo 12 astronaut Pete Conrad (the third man to walk on the moon) and a jazz performance by Dizzy Gillespie. The mall opened in two stages. Original tenants included the BrandsMart USA/Sears Outlet wing at the eastern end, extending past the Garden Food Court (next to Sears, previously the Hurricane Food Court), to the Books-A-Million store at the western end of the mall. The second stage, which opened November 15, 1990, extended the mall westward of the Books-A-Million store, past a second food court, the Market Food Court (next to Dick's Sporting Goods, previously the Sports Food Court) to new Marshalls and Spiegel Outlets. Cobb Theatres built an 18-screen cinema located at the Northeast corner of the mall, opening in December 1991, being disconnected from the main mall. Target Greatland was added to the east wing of the mall, opening in July 1992. Phar-Mor was another early anchor to the mall. Sam's Club, Walmart's warehouse store division, opened outside of the mall to customers in 1993, alongside Kmart, which opened a Pace Membership Warehouse, which was eventually converted into another Sam's Club after Walmart acquired Pace.
Originally, the concourses were named and themed, and each turn was considered a "Court" and named for the architectural style it featured. The original mall concourses (running west to east) were Modern Main Street, Mediterranean Main Street, Art Deco Main Street, and Caribbean Main Street. The courts were (running west to east) Entertainment Court, Cabana Court, Video Court, Rotunda Court, and New Ideas Court. Mall entrances were named after the entrance roads leading up to them, which included Yellow Toucan, Green Toad, Purple Parrot, White Seahorse, Red Snapper, Blue Dolphin, and Pink Flamingo.
In April 1994, Sears Outlet closed permanently after four years in operation. It was quickly replaced by JCPenney Catalog Outlet (later JCPenney Outlet Store). Then-General Manager Dan Cetina announced in the Sun Sentinel that TJ Maxx would open at Sawgrass Mills in June of that year. Loehmann's would take over the former Saks Fifth Avenue space, as Saks relocated to a larger space within the mall. Service Merchandise would develop a store near Burlington Coat Factory, with an expected completion by the end of 1994. Chicago-based Discovery Zone was also interested in establishing a children's play area at Sawgrass Mills. Both Service Merchandise and TJ Maxx anchored a Phase II addition, known as Veranda Main Street (Avenue Two, now The Loop), opened November 14, 1995. It ran parallel to the middle mall corridor (Avenue Three, now also The Loop). Local retailer L. Luria & Sons was slated to open an anchor at Sawgrass Mills. A lawsuit ensued, however, when Service Merchandise opened instead, and Luria's blamed The Mills Corporation for choosing Service Merchandise instead.
By mid-June 1996, Sawgrass Mills featured Warner Bros. Studio Store. Rainforest Cafe opened on November 20, 1996, in the Cabana Court. In June 1997, Cobb Theatres would be acquired by Regal Cinemas for $200million, and as a result, the Sawgrass Mills movie theater was rebranded as Regal Sawgrass 18 in September of that year.
In October through December 1998, Hard Rock Cafe agreed with the Mills Corporation to open a restaurant with two floors at Sawgrass Mills as its fourth location in Florida, as Mills planned to develop an outdoor entertainment center at Entry 3of Sawgrass Mills, called The Oasis at Sawgrass Mills. It was designed by Imagineity (formerly known as Art in Architecture), and had its grand opening on April 15, 1999, originally featuring Jillian's Entertainment, Ron Jon Surf Shop, and Foot Locker Outlet. This became the mall's first outdoor concourse, bringing it out from near Burlington Coat Factory to Regal Cinemas, which was expanded to 23 screens and became Regal Sawgrass 23. GameWorks, a gaming-based entertainment center, opened at The Oasis in mid-May 1999. Hard Rock Cafe would be adjacent to GameWorks, and had its grand opening on July 7 of that year. The Warner Bros. Studio Store closed permanently in December 2001 as a result of the AOL-Time Warner merger.
2000–2009: The Colonnade Outlets and Simon Property Group
The Cheesecake Factory and Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse opened at The Oasis in March 2000and 2003, respectively. Nordstrom Rack opened in the fall of that year at The Oasis.
Hard Rock Cafe closed permanently on May 9, 2004 to open a new, flagship two-story cafe at the newly-developed Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, which had its grand opening two days later. Wannado City opened in the spring of 2004. It was an indoor amusement center for kids who were able to work real-world jobs in a miniature city. Later, The Colonnade Outlets at Sawgrass Mills, designed by the Baltimore, Maryland-based BCT Design Group, opened in March 2006. That same month, the mall's Target Greatland was rebranded as SuperTarget. The Colonnade Outlets is an outdoor outlet shopping plaza that featured outlets of more upscale brands, including St. John, Burberry, Coach, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade, and Tommy Bahama and restaurants such as Grand Lux Cafe, P. F. Chang's China Bistro, Villagio, and Zinburger. Nike Factory Store opened on May 31, 2006.
In March 2004, Sawgrass Mills began renovating the main mall building's interior. This included new flooring, lighting, repaints, and furniture. Navigation would be updated in the form of "color-coded neighborhoods"; this would later result in the concourses being numbered and renamed "Avenues" instead of Main Streets. Mall entrances also became numbered to represent which Avenue the entrance would lead to (i.e. Entry 4leading to Avenue Four). The "Courts" were removed from the directory with this change. The animatronic pond in front of Rainforest Cafe was also converted into Cha Cha's Adventure Area, a kids' playground. In May 2006, The Mills Corporation was being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) due to extensive accounting irregularities and fraudulent financial reporting. As a result, in February 2007, The Mills Corp.'s portfolio, including Sawgrass Mills, would be acquired by Simon Property Group and Farallon Capital Management for $1.64billion, following the rejection of Brookfield Asset Management's offer in January of that year, which offered to acquire the Mills Corp. for $1.35billion. The acquisition was completed in April 2007, and the Mills Corporation was rebranded as The Mills: A Simon Company. The Colonnade Outlets received its first expansion in June 2009, featuring Tory Burch, John Varvartos, Giorgio Armani, Versace, Ted Baker.
2010–2018: Gator Garden and Town Center at Sawgrass Mills
In June 2010, Sawgrass Mills launched the "Gator Glam" project, a juried art exhibition featuring 7-foot-tall, customized, and painted alligator statues to celebrate the mall's 20th anniversary. These statues were installed in the Colonnade Outlets area, and local artists were invited to submit designs in June 2010 to be featured by October. Art and Culture Center of Hollywood partnered with the mall to select at least 20 artist-designed, freestanding alligator sculptures. Specific designs included an Everglades-themed alligator, one designed by Alejandro Cuadra named "Fiery Gator," and several others displaying unique artwork. The sculptures were primarily placed near the Colonnade Outlets area to enhance the, at the time, new luxury section.