Southlands (Aurora, Colorado)

Southlands Lifestyle Center

File:Southlands logo5.gif Mall logo
Location	Aurora, Colorado, United States
Coordinates
Management	Forest City Commercial Management
No. of stores and services	189 (May 2009)
No. of anchor tenants	16 (additional sub-anchors)
Total retail floor area	1.7 million sq ft. (157,936 m²)
No. of floors	2 (on Main Street--1 elsewhere)
Parking	Surface lots and street parking (on Main Street)
Website	http://www.shopsouthlands.com

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Main plaza at Southlands

Southlands Lifestyle Center (also Southlands Mall, Southlands, The Southlands, or The Southlands at Aurora) is a regional shopping mall located in Aurora, Colorado. The center is located at the intersection of Smoky Hill Road and the E-470 tollway, about 15 miles south of Denver International Airport, east of the Saddle Rock neighborhood and west of Cherokee Trail High School and the Tallyn's Reach neighborhood. Based on retail floor space, Southlands is the largest non-enclosed mall in the United States. It opened in 2005, featuring a unique design incorporating a "Main Street" of shops and smaller eateries, surrounded by larger stores near the perimeter of the center. Currently there are about 40 vacant retail locations on Main Street.

Design

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Half view of Main Street

Southlands Lifestyle Center utilizes an open-aired, mainstreet-style central shopping area which is ideally suited for Colorado's moderate climate. Main street runs down the center of the mall and is lined with shops and eateries. The street is adorned with hanging plants and planter boxes and angled parking spaces on both sides. There are stores in each of the 10 blocks on the ground floor, and four of the blocks have additional stores and office space on a second floor. At the end of Main Street is a central plaza where seasonal events take place. During the spring and summer a jumping fountain is active. While in the winter, an ice rink is constructed for public skating. Often there are events such as concerts in the fountain area (although the water is temporarily shut off). During the holiday season there is a large Christmas tree, and starting in 2007, an electric Menorah was featured as well. Other holiday festivities include horse-drawn carriage rides, Santa visits, and caroling. The opposite end of the plaza features a 16-screen movie theater, previously owned by Kerasotes, Southlands Stadium 16 is now owned by AMC Theatres.

Stores

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Ice rink at main plaza

The center's anchor stores are Walmart and JC Penney with dozens of junior anchors including Sports Authority, Sam's Club, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond, Petco, Michael's and others. Main Street is mostly lined with apparel stores, including Ann Taylor, American Eagle Outfitters, Coldwater Creek, Talbots, Limited Too, Gymboree, Zumiez, and Victoria's Secret. Other stores include Claire's and Bath and Body Works.

June 2009 Tornado

On June 7, 2009, at around 1:30 pm MDT the National Weather Service in Boulder indicated that a severe thunderstorm was coming into the southeastern Denver/Aurora area. At 1:53 pm MDT, the supercell had produced a tornado which touched down near the Southlands complex. The EF1 tornado damaged much of the surrounding houses and the landscape destroyed. Damaged stores include the Red Brick Pizza restaurant (which was nearly destroyed), the JCPenney's store, Jamba Juice, and Lowes. No injuries were reported from the incident. The complex was closed due to damage from the afternoon on Sunday June 7 until around noon on Tuesday June 9 although some stores, like Del Taco and Sam's Club reopened the next day. Some stores remain closed due to the damage.

References

http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=117392&catid=346