Fashion Show Expansion Weighed

LAS VEGAS-When General Growth Properties acquired the Rouse Co.’s portfolio for $12.6 billion last year, part of that deal included one of Las Vegas’ most successful malls, the 1.9 million-sf Fashion Show, on the Strip. At the time of the Rouse deal, Fashion Show had recently completed a $1 billion renovation that was years in the works and doubled the development’s size.

The upgrade–which added about 300,000-sf of small-shop space, anchors Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s Home, as well as other features–was expected by Rouse officials to nearly double the mall’s sales per-sf to around $1,000. (Chicago-based General Growth does not release sales per-sf for its individual malls, though executives say its performance is in the top 5% of its portfolio.)

The renovation also included the expansion of existing Dillard’s, Macy’s, Neiman-Marcus, Robinsons-May and Saks Fifth Avenue anchors, as well as the addition of a 480-foot-long canopy 128 feet over the center called the Cloud, on which images are projected at night.