Simon Property plans $450 million investment in New England malls
Simon Property Group Inc. said today that it will have invested $450 million in upgrading and expanding its 20 New England malls when it completes a five-year renovation plan in 2010.
Details of some of those plans have been previously announced, but Simon Property, an Indiana company with a portfolio of 380 shopping centers in North America, Europe, and Asia, including 14 in Massachusetts, hadn't publicly put a dollar figure on its New England renovations before.
The company said that major renovations are planned for Northshore Mall in Peabody, South Shore Plaza in Braintree, and Burlington Mall - a Nordstrom Inc. department store is set to mark its grand opening at Burlington Mall tomorrow.
Last week, Simon made public additional details about expansion plans at its Copley Place shopping complex in Boston.
Simon's vision for that site includes building a 569-foot tower that would include about 300 luxury residences above an expanded Neiman Marcus department store; the residential tower's budget is not included in the $450-million mall renovation budget, said a local spokeswoman for Simon.
When the details of Simon Property's proposal for Copley Place were unveiled last week, a company official said that Simon Property had no cost estimate for the project yet and added that he estimated that the project could be completed in 2011 or 2012.
Simon Property malls in Massachusetts include Arsenal Mall in Watertown, the Mall at Chestnut Hill, and Square One Mall in Saugus.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
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