The Potomac Mills shopping center is set to expand by 50,000 feet and add a Neiman Marcus Last Call Clearance Center to existing space, its owners announced Thursday.
The deal with Neiman Marcus Last Call had been in the works for years, said Gregg Goodman, executive vice president of development for the shopping center, which is owned by Simon Property Group Inc.
“We’re really excited about this,” Goodman said. With only 21 other Last Call stores in the country and none in the metro region, Goodman said he hoped the 34,000-square-foot attraction would “draw customers from other areas.” The mall already has two discount versions of luxury department stores, a Nordstrom Rack and a Saks Fifth Avenue OFF Fifth.
The announcement is a selling point for other new retailers, according to Goodman, who added he was in talks with more prospective tenants than he could house. Potomac Mills is tentatively planning to add two or three restaurants and one large retailer, with an announcement expected by the end of this year.
The expansion, which will stretch between AMC Theatres andCostco, will consist of about 30,000 square feet of restaurant space and 20,000 square feet for retail. The project will also include a renovated main entrance and facade.
Goodman said he was mindful of the economic downturn, adding that more local tenant prospects were affected than national tenants in the short term. Local tenants “are feeling the expansion pressure … and being conservative in these times,” he said.
Not everyone was feeling cautious.
The expansion project is a “testament to the strength of the market,” said Robb LaKritz, a principal with Washington-based developer LaKritz Adler. “The outlook for Washington, D.C., over the medium and long term is solid.”
Construction on the existing interior and exterior where the Neiman Marcus discount store will be located, between Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse and AMC Theatres, will start in fall 2008, with a grand opening slated for spring 2009. The 50,000-square-foot addition is supposed to be completed in 2010.
