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Week of July 15, 2004 |
| Rebirth of Southland Mall to include 16-screen theater By Michelle NorellSouthland Mall, formerly known as Cutler Ridge Mall, is the focus of redevelopment efforts that will include adding a 16-screen theater, restaurants and retailers. Jim Schlesinger, managing partner at T/S Development, has been "in active discussions with big-box tenants" to move into the more than 1 million square feet of leasable mall area. National retail shoe store DSW has signed a lease with T/S Development and Ocwen Federal Bank, current owner of the mall, and is to begin construction on a store location in the Southland Mall within 30 days. The new DSW store will be about 26,000 square feet and will be at the front of the mall at 20505 S Dixie Hwy. The Regal Entertainment Group has also signed on as a future Southland tenant. Regal Entertainment is to bring Regal Southland Stadium 16, a 71,000-square-foot movie theater with 3,500 stadium seats, to the mall. The theater will rise on the site of the Dillard's department store building following its demolition. The projected completion for the theater is fall 2005. However, the date cannot be stated for certain because the development project is running on a "working timeline." Dick Westerling, senior vice president of marketing and advertising for the Regal Entertainment Group, notes that the Regal Entertainment Group chose the Southland Mall as the site for its Stadium 16 only after a thorough evaluation of the surrounding market that took into account "population density, overall demographics, terrific highway infrastructure and the tremendous location" of the local South Miami-Dade area. Mr. Westerling characterized the Southland Mall location and the general South Miami-Dade region as a "high-growth area" that strongly appealed to the Regal Entertainment Group when considering sites for theater development and construction. Theatergoers from incorporated and unincorporated areas will be attracted to the theater for its accessibility and convenient location, he said. T/S Development and Ocwen Federal Bank continue to talk with prospective tenants as they work on completely leasing the available mall space. Details: Anabel Llopis, (305) 235-8880 or Dick Westerling, (865) 925-9539.
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