Great Mall of the Bay Area

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Great Mall of the Bay Area


image_width =
caption =
location = Milpitas, California, USA
opened = 1994
closing_date =
developer = Ivanhoe Cambridge
manager = Simon Property Group
owner = Simon Property Group
number_of_stores = 200
number_of_anchors = 11
floor_area = 1,300,000 square feet
floors = 1
parking =
website = [http://www.greatmallbayarea.com www.greatmallbayarea.com] The Great Mall of the Bay Area (often simply called The Great Mall) is a large shopping mall in Milpitas, California built by Ivanhoe Cambridge in 1994, then acquired by Mills Corporation in 2003, and is now owned by the Simon Property Group since April 2007.

History

Formerly a Ford automobile assembly plant that was founded in the 1950s, it closed down a few decades later due to increasing competition with Japanese auto manufacturers. In the early 1990s, developers resized the former plant and converted it into a mall. Today, an oak tree with a plaque commemorating Great Mall's history stands in the southwest section of its parking lot.

Location

The Great Mall of the Bay Area sits at the intersection of Great Mall Parkway (which becomes Capitol Avenue when it crosses Montague Expressway) and Montague Expressway. The Parc Metropolitan apartments lie to the north of the mall. A few inns are also located at the south entrance of the mall.

Layout

Great Mall, unlike many other malls (but is like most Mills mall), is a "flat" mall and the biggest mall in northern California — it has only one story but takes up a large amount of land. The mall is currently laid out in this fashion because the existing main structure used to be a Ford automobile assembly plant and was not designed to serve a shopping center.

Various major retailers are represented in the mall, including Home Depot, Off 5th - Saks Fifth Avenue Outlet, Marshalls, Dave and Buster's, Sears Appliance Outlet and a new Last Call Neiman Marcus clearance center. The mall used to house a Vans Skatepark, but closed in 2004 and was replaced by Kohl's. In addition, it houses a Century Theatres multiplex with 20 screens.

Based on gross leaseable area, the Great Mall of the Bay Area is the largest mall in Northern California. Great Mall also has a food court, which can be accessed through Entrance 4.

Transit Center

The Great Mall of the Bay Area is close to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's Great Mall/Main transit center. Many VTA bus routes and also one by AC Transit stop at this transit center. The light rail station is elevated in the median of Great Mall Parkway.

Anchors & Majors

*Banana Republic (convert|10000|sqft|m2|-3|abbr=on)
*Beverages & More (convert|10566|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)
*Burlington Coat Factory (convert|90096|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)
*Century Theatres (convert|71734|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)
*Dave & Buster's (convert|65079|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)
*The Gap Outlet (convert|16050|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)
*Group USA (convert|20754|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)
*Kohl's (convert|91843|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)
*Last Call Neiman Marcus (convert|33120|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)
*Marshalls Superstore (convert|52526|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)
*Nike (convert|17352|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)
*Off 5th Saks Fifth Avenue (convert|27423|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)
*Old Navy (convert|20138|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)
*Sears Outlet (convert|29491|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)
*Shoe Pavilion (convert|18920|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)
*Sports Authority (convert|55871|sqft|m2|0|abbr=on)

External links

* [http://www.greatmallbayarea.com Great Mall of the Bay Area]