I know we all love shopping malls...:bash:

But here are the latest approved plans for the Mall of America. Excerpts below from an article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press a couple of weeks ago. You can read or just skim some of the highlights. The new addition will be four stories mostly, and measure 1,567 feet north-south by 1,312 feet east-west:

A 6,000-seat performing arts auditorium, a roller coaster, a Bass Pro Shop and a hotel will be among the additions to the Mall of America's current complex and its $1 billion-plus Phase II addition, mall officials said this afternoon at a press conference.

AEG of Los Angeles said it would partner with mall ownership group Triple Five to build the performing arts auditorium in Phase II that is appropriate for music and dance performances. AEG owns the Los Angeles Kings, a hockey team, and a piece of the L.A. Lakers.

The Mall of America said Bass Pro Shops, a Springfield, Mo.-based outdoor retailer, would lease about 300,000 square feet in its 5.6 million-square-foot Phase II project, which just gained approval from the city of Bloomington last week. Construction on Phase II could begin by mid-2007.

In addition, San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants will build a hotel that will be attached to the south side of the mall off of Killebrew Drive. It will be Kimpton's first property in Minnesota.

Mall officials said they would invest $25 million into new rides and attractions at the Park at MOA over the next 18 months. Construction is expected to begin next year on a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter roller coaster. The roller coaster is expected to debut in 2008.

New ramps will bring the total parking capacity to more than 20,000 cars. A hockey rink, dinner theatre, office space and waterpark are also part of the expansion. You can see the complete plans in PDF format here. (http://www.ci.bloomington.mn.us/main_stories/moa_ph2/moa_ph2.htm#Plans) These plans were produced last summer, and are still expected to change somewhat.

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/197/moamodel01zm3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

That is quite an expansion.

holy shit.

Like all but a rare few malls, still completetly de-natured. Parking in search of a purpose.

^I agree about the "de-natured" aspect. The MOA is becoming a quasi-City Center for the city of Bloomington. Everything you'd want, with a university, museum, park, chapel, police force, hotel, residences, etc.

The problem is - and I think it's a serious one - is that while pretending to be a Town Square, there is no freedom of speech. No real public life. It is a privately manufactured indoor city of approximately 100,000 daily "citizens" and it can kick you out of town for nearly any reason.

But it's a fun place too, as long as you realize you are only a guest.

Does anyone know if this will put Mall of America back on the top for largest mall in the world?

I think there will be a few in asia still just a few million square feet larger but for the most part...it will make it the undisputed largest mall in the western hemisphere.

that is nuts. next it will be crossing the wisconsin border. Does the Light rail go to the mall?

that is nuts. next it will be crossing the wisconsin border. Does the Light rail go to the mall?

It sure does.

Damn, that is one huge expansion.

Does the planned expansion effect retail in downtown Mpls or downtown StP?

Also, I'm curious to know: did Federated need to (or plan to) close any Daytons-to-Field's-to-Macy's stores in the southern part of the metro area due to the Macy's MOA location? I know Edina is pretty well off and can support retail (including Dayton/Field) for many years, but is there overlap today?

that is nuts. next it will be crossing the wisconsin border. Does the Light rail go to the mall?

think of all the Chicagoans coming to Milwaukee to shop and entering Mayfair on one end and keeping on walking in enclosed comfort until they reach MOA on the other.

Does the planned expansion effect retail in downtown Mpls or downtown StP?

The auditorium might steal some events away from downtown Mpls or St. Paul, but I don't think the expansion is going to affect retail that much. I don't think too many people come to either downtown expecting to find a bass pro-shop.


Also, I'm curious to know: did Federated need to (or plan to) close any Daytons-to-Field's-to-Macy's stores in the southern part of the metro area due to the Macy's MOA location? I know Edina is pretty well off and can support retail (including Dayton/Field) for many years, but is there overlap today?

Nope, there isn't any more department stores now than what there used to be. The only thing that's changed are the names. There are 3 Macys in the southern metro and I think they'll all do fine. People who live close to Southdale or Burnsville center generally won't go to the Mall of America.

I would guess most people in the MSP area don't go to Mall of America for most of their shopping needs. It's basically tourists. I know that our family doesn't...they still go to the same malls they went to before. We stop at IKEA once in a great while...but hardly ever go inside the MOA.

How does one navigate such a complex?

I would guess most people in the MSP area don't go to Mall of America for most of their shopping needs. It's basically tourists.

I live in south Minneapolis, about 5 minutes from the mall, and I never go there. If I need to go to a mall, I'll drive farther to go to Southdale just to avoid "the Mall".

As far as tourists at the mall, you could easily play the license plate game in the Mall of America's parking lot. I've been in there at times when it seems like half of Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Iowa, and Illinois residents are at the mall.

People come from across the world to see MOA. It's insane. I went a few times after it opened. I had recently gone to MOA as I met a friend who was in MSP for a meeting. He wanted to meet there. It was actually quite easy to park. My friend was impressed though! LOL It's just too big to be productive for the average shopping trip. I'd prefer to go Downtown or to Maple Grove when I'm up there.

^I live in SW MPLS and hardly ever go to "the Mall". I prefer Southdale or Downtown MPLS. Besides going to the MOA once for some Christmas shopping this year, I honestly can't remember the last time I was in there shopping for myself. Except the times I meet my family when they come up from Iowa every few months, but I don't count those times cause 1: I don't have a choice, and 2: I never buy anything there anyway. The "Mega Mall" is always on their list of stops whenever they come up. :ohno:

People come from across the world to see MOA. It's insane.

Yeah, there are travel agencies in Japan that have Mall of America packages. There are enough Japanese tourists that the Mall of America has information booklets in Japanese. It doesn't hurt that you can fly non-stop from Tokyo to MSP either.

This is from the mall's website:

"Canada, England, Japan, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden are the leading countries for international tourists."

When we were in Japan, I saw a travel agency that had a picture of Mall of America in their window (I couldn't read what the poster said...but I could see the pic). :lol:

The Japanese go everywhere! :)

Nope, there isn't any more department stores now than what there used to be. The only thing that's changed are the names. There are 3 Macys in the southern metro and I think they'll all do fine. People who live close to Southdale or Burnsville center generally won't go to the Mall of America.

anticheese, i understood that. but having those same numbers, but under one name, adds an element of overlap that wasn't there when those stores were Dayton's/Field's.

Are you saying basically that MOA is its own market and those who shop there will automatically avoid the other southern metro malls?

I haven't heard a thing about a thing here about West Edmonton. How will the two compare if the MOA expansion goes into full effect??????

anticheese, i understood that. but having those same numbers, but under one name, adds an element of overlap that wasn't there when those stores were Dayton's/Field's.

Are you saying basically that MOA is its own market and those who shop there will automatically avoid the other southern metro malls?

In a way, it is it's own market. Their website says that 4 out of 10 visitors are tourists "as defined as people who live outside the 150-mile radius of the Mall".

I'd guess that Burnsville Center and Southdale is almost exclusively local shoppers.

And I'm saying that a name change doesn't necessarily create an overlap. There is more of an overlap within the Mall of America itself than in the southern metro. The Mall of America has Macy's, Bloomingdales, and Nordstroms. THAT's an overlap, and they've all survived for over 10 years.

Macy's is the only somewhat upscale department store anchor at Southdale and Burnsville Center. Both of those malls are far enough away from the Mall of America that I don't think there's an overlap. Eden Prairie Center, also in the southern metro, also has it's own upscale deparment store, Von Maurs. We have a lot of choices for department stores here.