Dadeland Mall

Dadeland Mall is a large enclosed shopping mall located in the Greater Miami suburb of Kendall, Florida, in the Dadeland district. The mall, originally developed by the Joseph Meyerhoff Company of Baltimore, opened October 1, 1962 as a 535,000-square-foot (49,700 m²), open-air complex of sixty stores and services.^[2] Dadeland Mall is located between South Dixie Highway (US1) and the Palmetto Expressway (SR 826) at its southern terminus where it meets US1. It is also served by the Dadeland North Metrorail station, which has a pedestrian walkway connecting to the mall. The Dadeland South station is located just south of the mall.

History

Originally an open-air center, the mall was anchored by Burdine's (spelled with an apostrophe at the time), and also boasted a Food Fair grocery, full-service Gray Drug and the Summit Restaurant, Lounge and Cafeteria (later known as The Forum). A Jordan Marsh anchor store was added to the west end, which opened in November 1966.

A massive construction project, initiated in late 1969, doubled the size of the mall by twinning it (leaving the huge Burdine's in the middle), and adding a wing of fully enclosed retail onto the east end. Moreover, the existing courts and concourses were fully enclosed and air-conditioned. Another feature of this expansion was the King of the Mall, an enormous Burger King (whose corporate headquarters were then located across from Dadeland on North Kendall Drive). This renovation project was completed with the opening of J.C. Penney, the mall's new east anchor store, in early 1971.

The mall attained notoriety as the site of a 1979 drug-related shooting spree during Miami's "Cocaine Cowboys" era. In broad daylight, two gunmen exited a paneled truck, entered a liquor store and gunned down two men, wounding the store clerk. The dead men were eventually identified as a Colombia-based cocaine trafficker and his bodyguard.^[3] A third expansion, undertaken in early 1983, added Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor to the south-facing front of the complex. A food court had also opened, in the shuttered Pantry Pride (former Food Fair) supermarket, in 1982. A subsequent renovation, completed in September 1987, saw the interior of the mall updated, with its early 1960s animal statues being removed. The mod smooth colored concrete animals and geometric slides were donated to Miami-Dade County and can be seen in Dante Fascell Park in South Miami and at the Miami-Dade County children's day care center play yard to the east of Jackson Memorial Hospital.

One of the unique trademarks of the shopping complex is the concrete tower with a giant "D" (for Dadeland) at the top. This local landmark was there from the beginning. The photo at the right shows it in its original aqua color. Through the 80s and some of the 90s the tower was painted white but is now aqua once again.

Another expansion was added in 1991, an 80,000 square foot building occupied by six Limited Brands concepts including three-level flagship The Limited and Express stores.^[4]

Dadeland Mall today

Today, Dadeland is managed by the Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, who purchased 50% of the center in 1997. Morgan Stanley owns the other 50%.^[2] The anchors include Florida's largest Macy's (Macy's Florida's flagship store), as well as Macy's Home Gallery & Kids (the west end anchor), J.C. Penney, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Nordstrom. Former tenants of the west end anchor space, currently occupied by the Macy's Home Gallery & Kids, were Jordan Marsh (1966-1991) and Burdines Home Store (1993-2005).

Dadeland Mall's largest restaurants are Villagio and The Cheesecake Factory.

The outer part of the mall, particularly the original main entrance, was featured in the 1985 Chuck Norris film Invasion U.S.A. The inside and outside of the mall was featured in the 1990 Alec Baldwin film Miami Blues. The mall has been remodeled since both of those films however. In the late 90's, talks were underway about adding a second floor to the entire mall. This project will once again double the malls space plus add second floor access to the anchor stores all of which already have second floors.

In 2011, The Limited/Express wing closed down. The following year, the wing was demolished to make way for a new two story mall expansion that opened April 2013 with various restaurants on the second level and multiple new shops on the first level, including a dining terrace on the second level's exterior facing Southwest 88th Street. On the first floor, there is a corridor dubbed the "Fashion Runway."

Stores

Anchors

• JCPenney- 192,710 square feet (17,903 m²).^[5]
• Macy's - 421,073 square feet (39,119.0 m²).
• Macy's Home/Kids - 210,000 square feet (20,000 m²).
• Nordstrom - 150,090 square feet (13,944 m²).
• Saks Fifth Avenue - 78,669 square feet (7,308.6 m²).

Other stores

Former: Delta Air Lines ticket office kiosk (7493-K), near the entrances to the Cheesecake Factory and Villagio ^[6]

References

External links

• Dadeland Mall Official Website