Completed in October 1989, the Fashion Centre is the largest enclosed shopping mall in Arlington, housing 164 retailers and restaurants. The Washington Tower office building, formerly leased by MCI, is part of the mall property;[2] its lower levels are part of the mall.
History
The mall was developed by Melvin Simon & Associates with real-estate investment firm Rose Associates as part of the 1976 Pentagon City Phased-Development Site Plan.[3] It opened in fall 1989 with 860,000 sq. ft. of space[4] on 25 acres, with Macy's and Nordstrom as anchor stores (original plans were for Bambergers)[5] and approximately 150 other stores, and a 4,524-capacity parking garage; the office tower part of the complex opened a little later,[6] and the 345-room hotel the following year.[7] The interior featured a white color scheme and skylit atria extending in two wings from the central courtyard.[7] The mall theater, Loews Pentagon City 6, closed on January 1, 2003, and was replaced by a clothing store.[8]
Expansion of the mall, including outward-facing stores on Hayes Street, was approved by the county board in 2013,[3] at which time it had more than 170 stores.[9][10] It was completed in 2016.[11][12] As of 2018[update], the mall had 1.05 million sq ft (98 thousand m2) of space.[13]
On March 23, 2023, it was announced that IKEA will be opening a 5,000 sqft "Plan and Order" specialty format, the first in the Washington, D.C. region. It will feature interior design planning among IKEA specialists with any ordered furniture then delivered to a customer's residence.[14]
In late 1990, Melvin Simon & Associates sold 50% of its interest in the mall to Lehndorff Group, a real estate management firm;[4] during 1991 it sold another 25% to other institutional investors, retaining a quarter interest and management of the center. Simon Property Group, the successor to the Simon shopping mall interests, subsequently raised its stake; as of April 2014[update] it jointly owned the mall with Institutional Mall Investors, a joint venture of Miller Capital Advisory and CalPERS;[9] as of 2019[update], it had a 42.5% interest.[1] The Ritz-Carlton hotel is separately owned, by Xenia Hotels & Resorts.[1][13]