Simon Lands Neiman for North Carolina Project

CHARLOTTE, NC-Neiman Marcus has committed to opening an 80,000-sf store at South Park, a 1.3 million-sf super-regional mall here that opened in 1970 and is currently undergoing a renovation and expansion that began in 2001. Mall owner Simon Property Group says the two-level store will open in the fall of 2006.Earlier this year, Simon described the work it was doing at South Park as one of the company’s most significant expansion and redevelopment projects. The largest component of the expansion and renovation was completed in March, when Simon opened a new 153,000-sf Nordstrom, a 60,000-sf Hecht’s expansion, and 50,000 sf of additional small shop space. An additional phase of the redevelopment is under construction that will add Galyan’s (opening in the third quarter of 2004), a food court and two restaurants. Expected gross costs for the South Park redevelopment are $97 million, according to Simon. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Simon is a real estate investment trust engaged in the ownership, development and management of income-producing properties, primarily regional malls and community shopping centers. Through its subsidiary partnerships, it currently owns or has an interest in 246 properties in North America containing an aggregate of 192 million sf of gross leasable area in 37 states plus Canada and Puerto Rico. The Company also holds interests in 48 assets in Europe (in France, Italy, Poland and Portugal).