SCOTTSDALE – High-end retailers at Scottsdale Fashion Square just keep pouring in.
Next year Arizona will get its first Michael Kors and Armani Exchange at one of the Valley’s premier luxury malls.
A Puma store also opens next spring, with one opening by year’s end at Glendale’s Westgate City Center.But if you’re wondering about the construction at the former Robinson-May building on mall’s east side, well, more bling is on the way.
Claw-like demolition machines are tearing down the walls and parking structure facing Scottsdale Road to create space for Arizona’s first Barneys New York and as many as 30 more retailers and restaurants.
The 65,000-square-foot, two-level remodeling and construction of Barneys will cost $130 million.
That’s not including space just north of the Barneys New York for a future anchor store and redevelopment of the 2.5 acres occupied by the aging Days Inn motel.
“Scottsdale Fashion Square will never stop perfecting its position as Arizona’s premier shopping center,” said Scott Nelson, vice president of development for Westcor, the mall’s management company.
In addition to Barneys, plans are underway to remodel the mall’s entire 270,000-square-foot east wing, one of the largest redevelopment projects by Westcor, which manages many of the Valley’s largest shopping centers.
East wing redo ‘monumental’
“This monumental project started with the addition of Neiman Marcus, then Nordstrom, and will continue way beyond Barneys New York coming in 2009,” Nelson said.
Demolition for the new east wing is to be completed within the next two months, Nelson said. By next spring, shoppers should begin to see the new stores taking shape.
Shoppers can expect a Main Street style with more retail in the mall’s east wing facing Camelback Road. For example, space for two restaurants near the soon-to-open Grand Lux restaurant will feature outdoor seating. The Grand Lux, a sister eatery of the Cheesecake Factory, opens Nov. 8.
Already, drivers along Scottsdale Road can see development of a wider pedestrian-friendly walkway, which soon will be dotted with public art.
Esthetic touch ups are planned elsewhere throughout the mall. For example, shoppers may see new stone flooring in the west wing that matches new flooring in the east wing.
Fashion Square Valley’s largest
Scottsdale Fashion Square is Westcor’s largest mall in the Phoenix metropolitan area, attracting about 12 million visitors annually, said Linda Whitlow. The 2 million-square-foot mall is the 20th largest in the nation, she said.
For years, Scottsdale Fashion Square has been one of the city’s largest sources of sales tax revenues. The mall averages $8 million a year in sales taxes, according to Scottsdale.
That revenue is expected to increase with the addition of more new stores and restaurants. The mall is poised to serve a growing number of residents moving into new multi-million-dollar, high-rise condominiums in downtown Scottsdale.
Angelique Soenarie
