South Shore Plaza seeks to make room for Nordstrom
South Shore Plaza in Braintree, one of the largest malls in New England, is looking to get a bit bigger.
South Shore Plaza's owner, Simon Property Group Inc. of Indiana, said it will present mall expansion plans to the Braintree planning officials tonight.
Simon Property's blueprint calls for adding about 123,000 square feet of retail space at the back of a mall that currently has about 1.5 million square feet of space, room for 180 stores, and anchor tenants Lord & Taylor, Macy's, and Sears.
Plans also call for demolishing and rebuilding about 250,000 square feet of space that was once occupied by a Macy's department store, Simon Property said.
It has been previously announced that Nordstrom Inc., the Seattle-based luxury department store chain, plans to build a store at South Shore Plaza, with an expected opening in the spring of 2010.
After Macy's corporate parent bought Filene's corporate parent in 2005, the Filene's closed, and the Macy's at South Shore Plaza relocated to the space previously occupied by Filene's. The former Macy's space has since remained vacant, a mall spokeswoman said.
The plan is for the Nordstrom to attach to the new space that Simon Property is seeking Braintree approvals for. Simon Property is hoping to begin construction this summer and complete the expansion by the spring of 2009.
The new space is expected to accommodate as-yet unnamed "upscale retail shops," Simon Property said.
When Nordstrom opens in 2010, it is expected that South Shore Plaza will have 1.62 million square feet of space.
Simon Property owns several malls in Eastern Massachusetts, including the Northshore Mall in Peabody and the Burlington Mall.
A Nordstrom store is scheduled to have its grand opening at the Burlington Mall on Friday.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
