Ghermezian would also like to lure upscale retailers and restaurants like Tiffany's, PF Chang's and the Cheesecake Factory, all of which recently opened stores in the Twin Cities. Ghermezian family's other megamall, in West Edmonton, Alberta, has less than 1% vacancy rate while the Mall of America "conservatively" has about 10% of its leasable space vacant.
Simon, the nation's largest shopping center company, listed the Mall of America's occupancy rate at 92.7% in its annual report filed in March. That 7.3% vacancy rate is up from 3% vacancy the prior year.
The 32-year-old Ghermezian says his family intends to take a "hands-on approach" to managing the mall. Simon Property Group is appealing previous legal decisions to the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
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