In the mall offices, there’s a sign counting down the days to Sept. 30, when the newly renovated Tysons Corner Center is scheduled to open.
The section of the mall which had housed J.C. Penny closed in January of 2004. Now that store has been gutted and expanded, in order to add approximately 40 more stores.
“We saw that as an opportunity to put into Tysons Corner the stores that it really lacks,” said Doug Healey, senior vice president of east coast leasing with Macerich, the mall’s owner. “We’ve really taken out an anchor and added 360,000 square feet of retail space.
When the new section opens, the mall will total 2.3 million square feet. New stores include a 16-screen movie theater, a Barnes & Noble, an 800-seat food court and a children’s play area.
The style of the new section is similar to the old in terms of the floor and general style of construction and design, so it will be difficult to distinguish it from the existing mall.
New stores on the ground floor will focus on furniture and housewares. “The demand for home furnishings is significant in Tysons Corner,” Healey said. Many of the new stores will be new to the region, and are more upscale and trendy than large furniture stores, Healey said. “These are more specialty stores,” he said.
On the second floor the focus will be on woman’s and teen fashion. “Its a little more fashion oriented, a little more fashion forward,” Healey said.
The third floor will house the food court and movie theater.
Besides the food court, the mall will also add five new restaurants. While there will be some familiar names, there will also be a restaurant opened by Chef Nobu Morimoto of TV's Iron Chef.
The most visible change, at least from the outside, is the 1,600-space parking deck. The mall will also provide valet parking at the entrance near the restaurants, and has added an access ramp from an existing parking deck to the movie theater.