Simon Property Group, owner of almost half of the 15 major malls in South Florida, intensifies the competition in entertainment and shopping by opening Shops at Sunset Place in South Miami tonight.
The center features a collection of anchor stores that are hard to find elsewhere:
Niketown, Nike’s splashy sports palace, which seems more museum than store.
FAO Schwarz, the upscale toy store.
Virgin Megastore, the British-owned CD, video, software and bookstore.
Z Gallerie home furnishing and accessories, and the Sega-Steven Spielberg Gameworks entertainment center.
There’s also an Imax theater with a 65-foot screen, a 24-screen AMC movie theater and a Barnes & Noble bookstore.
“It’s a little upscale; it’s a lot of fun,” said Shari Simon, vice president of corporate marketing and niece of developer Mel Simon. “But anybody can shop here. I love the fact that the college University of Miami] is right across the street.”
The Sunset Drive entrance has a group of mock Banyan trees and a “thunderstorm” every hour. There’s a 130-foot laser tower, and a 60-foot FAO Schwarz clock overlooking U.S. 1.
The center opens with a party at 8:30 p.m. with fireworks and fire dancers.
The center replaces the failed Bakery Center at the edge of the small city’s downtown. The grand opening has been delayed twice, in October and then December, because of permit problems and weather delays plus troubles with stringent South Florida hurricane construction codes.
Simon Property had no experience with the codes, and many of the tenants had never built an exterior storefront before because they usually build in indoor malls, spokesman Billie Scott said.
The center joins a flood of entertainment-oriented shopping centers in the region.
There’s Cocowalk and Mayfair in nearby Coconut Grove. There’s the granddaddy, Bayside Marketplace in Miami’s downtown. Dadeland, Simon’s own conventional mall that is one of the top malls in the country, is a few miles away. Another center plans to bring Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom to nearby Coral Gables by 2003.
Michael Swerdlow Cos. has built Las Olas Riverfront in Fort Lauderdale and Oakwood Plaza in Hollywood, and the company is also planning Dolphin Mall west of Miami International Airport. Aventura Mall beefed up, adding a new restaurant, shopping and theater wing, and Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise is adding a new wing, too.
Sunset Place is a big project; in square footage, about twice the size of Las Olas Riverfront.
Shoppers will find walls of empty stores tonight; more than half the stores aren’t open yet, including Gap, Disney Store, Limbo Lounge, Newslink, Z Gallerie and Barnes & Noble.
Simon defended the decision to open now. “I’ve waited long enough to open,” she said. Besides, “in six weeks, we will be 85 percent open.”
FAO Schwarz Chief Executive John Eyler said he was sorry to miss Christmas, but happy to be here for the Super Bowl. Another CEO said he wished all the stores were open, but he didn’t think it would hurt his project.
“We see ourselves as a destination,” said Richard L. Gelfond, co-chief executive of Imax.
