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Shopping Centers Today -> August 2001
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THINGS SAID TO BE GOING SWIMMINGLY AT DOLPHIN
By Dave Bodamer
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| Almost five months after its grand opening, Miami’s Dolphin Mall is 85% leased. |
Less than five months after its grand opening, more than 50 new stores have made their debut at Miami’s Dolphin Mall, a 1.5 million-square-foot value megamall built by Taubman Centers, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and Swerdlow Real Estate Group, Hollywood, Fla. The mall, which is a mix of outdoor and indoor spaces clustered in three uniquely designed zones, has been a magnet for local residents and tourists, say observers, and has brought in several South American-based concepts.
When the $200 million mall opened in early March, just more than half of its stores were ready for business. Since then more than 50 have opened, including several of the center’s anchor tenants, such as Brooks Bros., Mikasa Outlet and Dave & Buster’s. Overall, more than 200 of the center’s stores are open and 85% of the mall is leased and committed.
“If somebody came out here opening weekend, they need to come back because we’re actually a different place now,” said Maria Llorca, the marketing director and acting general manager of Dolphin Mall. Taubman was in the process of selecting a permanent general manager at press time.
The center has attempted to take advantage of the strong Latin American population in the Miami area. Toward that goal it has added several South American tenants making U.S. debuts. One of the concepts is a Venezuelan chain called ChurroMania, which sells churros, sweet pastries that are popular in Latin America.
“They were looking for opportunities to expand outside the Venezuela market,” Llorca said. “The Miami market is a natural. There’s a large Latin audience in the area. It’s going very well and now they are looking in other areas to expand, too. They see it as a product that is popular in Miami and could be in other areas.”
Three other South American-based retailers have also opened shops at the mall, including OVO, a Latin American men’s and women’s apparel retailer, and Papaya, a junior and petite fashions retailer. Other tenants with South American roots include women’s clothier Basico and Besitos Kids Clothing Outlet.
“It makes it interesting,” Llorca said. “We still have the Marshall’s and the Saks Off Fifth, which have the name recognition and attract people. But then we have something different. The Latin American stores distinguish us from other malls.”
A Miami-based real estate services firm, Terranova, said that Dolphin Mall has enjoyed a successful entry into the market.
“I’m driving past the mall right now, and I can tell you that the parking lot is packed,” Terranova President Beth Azor said from her cellular phone. “The tenants are happy and are getting a lot of traffic. There’s still some leasing that needs to be done on inline space, but I’m sure if anyone is going to pull it off, Taubman is.”
Dolphin Mall’s construction was the result of more than five years of work by Swerdlow and then Taubman, which came on board in 1999 with an infusion of cash that kept the project going. Taubman brought in the architecture firm CommArts, Boulder, Colo., which redesigned much of the center and developed the plan to zone the mall into three sections: Ramblas, Moda and Playa. The zones are meant to reflect the types of stores in the spaces as well as to recreate places in Miami, such as its downtown and its beachfront hotels.
“We’re doing very well. Our anchors are doing very well,” Llorca said. “We have an interesting combination of stores that ring a bell and new retail.”
 | Current Issue November 2008 |