GRAPEVINE -- City officials are in discussions with the owners of Grapevine Mills mall about a major renovation.
To get a better idea of what that might look like, some of Grapevine's
elected leaders and staff flew to Nashville on one-day trips Wednesday
and Thursday to visit the newly renovated Opry Mills mall. It had been
closed since being devastated in a 2010 flood and has its grand
reopening Thursday after a $200 million makeover. Both malls are owned
by Simon Property Group of Indianapolis, which bought Mills Corp. in
2007.
"We wanted to see the interior configuration, the store lineup," Grapevine City Manager Bruno Rumbelow said.
"The way the mall feels inside is hopefully what our Mills mall will be in the future."
He
said the city and Grapevine Mills are in a "discussion phase" for an
interior renovation. The two sides, including the City Council, have met
behind closed doors at least twice in the last few months, with Mills
representatives bringing large, four-color maps and images.
Councilwoman Darlene Freed, who visited Opry Mills on Thursday, said she was impressed.
She
said it was "jammed" with people at the grand opening, and described a
lighter-colored floor, comfortable chairs rather than benches, a wing
designated as a "fashion district" with higher-end shops and store
entrances that are "more dramatic."
"It is time to do an upgrade on our mall," she said.
Michael
Goodman with Simon's public relations firm of Bitner Goodman said in an
e-mail that "the Mills has been focused on renovations and expansions."
He
wrote that "we do not have specific plans for Grapevine Mills, but we
look forward to working with the city of Grapevine in the near future."
Grapevine
Mills mall, built at a cost of $200 million, opened in 1997. It has
more than 1.78 million square feet; Opry Mills has more than 1.16
million square feet, according to Simon's website. In the last couple of
years, Grapevine Mills has added a Legoland Discovery Center and Sea
Life
Grapevine Aquarium as well as shops. For example, Coach Factory
outlet recently opened, and an Under Armour store is expected to open
next month.
To help with the construction of Grapevine Mills,
Grapevine created a tax increment financing district, which uses future
property tax revenue to repay $27.5 million in public improvements for
roads, water and sewer. That TIF was joined by other taxing entities
including Tarrant County
College, Tarrant County, the county hospital
district and the Grapevine-Colleyville school district. The TIF has a
20-year payback period.
John McGrane, Grapevine's director of
administrative services, said the "fund is doing very well. The payback
exceeds" the timetable.
He said he expects Simon to come to Grapevine seeking incentives for any mall renovation.
Freed
described the mall as Grapevine's largest sales tax generator. However,
separate sales tax figures covering just the shops at the mall are not
available from the state comptroller's office.
Rumbelow, who
visited Opry Mills on Wednesday with Councilmen Mike Lease and Roy
Stewart, said "everyone was impressed with the renovations."
His hope is to "actively go forward" in the discussions with Simon to "rebuild and retool" Grapevine Mills.
"This is the newest version of Mills; we intend to have that," he said.
This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.
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