Tysons Corner Tops 2M SF

MCLEAN, VA-The 362,000-sf expansion of Tysons Corner Center has wrapped up, bringing the retail property’s total square footage up to approximately 2.3 million sf. Santa Monica, CA-based Macerich planned the expansion almost as soon as it acquired the property as part of a $2.3-billion, multi-mall deal last year. Macerich co-owns the shopping center with Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., as the acquisition deal called for only a 50% ownership. The cost of the expansion has not been disclosed; however, when the property was expanded from its original size in 1988, the cost was $150 million.

Located off the Capital Beltway at 1961 Chain Bridge Rd., Tysons Corner Center started out as a one-million-sf, single-story shopping destination and moved up to a two-million-sf, dual-level site with an office building two decades later. With Macerich’s work done–for the time being–the mall’s new offerings include a 105,000-sf , 16-screen movie theater and a 800-seat food court on the third level, a 34,000-sf Barnes & Noble bookstore, 45,000 sf of space housing new furniture retailers, additional specialty retailers targeting the teen market and a 1,600-space parking facility.

“Tyson’s Corner Center has long been one of the most prominent ‘trophy properties’ in our industry,” Macerich senior executive vice president Ed Coppola noted in the company’s May 2005 newsletter. “The current expansion and potential for significant mixed-use development on the site’s periphery add to the appeal of a property that dominates one of the most affluent and densely populated markets in the country.”

Indeed, Macerich has bigger plans for the 78-acre property. The company has submitted a rezoning application with Fairfax County to accommodate mixed-use developments at the site. As per a Sept. 14, 2005 Fairfax County Board agenda document, the proposal calls for about 1.4 million sf of additional office space, 150,000 sf of additional retail, 240 hotel rooms and 1,297 residential units. “These elements, coupled with the planned addition of a new Metro station across from the property, would serve to bring even more visitors to a mall that already draws from an enormous base of area residents, office workers and guests staying at nearby hotels,” The potential for incremental sales growth is simply tremendous,” states the proposal.