How old is great lakes crossing

An online search reveals that GameWorks closed in after Sega reorganized and the portion of their company running the location filed for bankruptcy in The Oakland Press explained the location was one of the major fixtures of the outlet mall. Today, this space in the mall is occupied by the Sea Life aquarium, which is the largest aquarium in the state. Ironically, this restaurant is located right by where the Bear Bus drops students off each weekend in District 6 of the mall.

Great Lakes Crossing was not conceived as an outlet mall. Rather, it was planned as a traditional mall. Because this set up Auburn Hills as a tourist destination, there were plans set in place to build a hotel nearby as well. The mall was officially named Great Lakes Crossing. However, in , it went through a rebranding officially changing its name to Great Lakes Crossing Outlet Mall, bringing in a slew of new stores such as a Lord and Taylor outlet. Now Great Lakes Crossing has become a tourist destination in and of itself.

One thing has never changed. Western Development first had to acquire a construction loan before it could begin paying off the mortgage, but faced difficulty in doing so due to lenders restricting themselves in the wake of the savings and loan crisis.

Western Development agreed to let Union Bank of Switzerland take ownership of the mall property in July , effectively canceling any construction by Western Development. Despite this, Kmart built a prototype store across Joslyn Road in Taubman Centers made announcements in June to buy the land from Union Bank and build an outlet mall on the site.

Their plans called for a smaller footprint than the originally planned center, so as to lessen the impact on the environment around the property. Taubman Centers had owned the land in the s when it was still zoned residential, but sold it to Western Development in after that company expressed interest in building a mall.

Retail analysts at the time considered the area to have the most potential for retail growth at the time. As with Auburn Mills, Taubman's plans for the property were to include a large number of anchor stores, along with a mix of outlet stores and traditional mall tenants. As proposed, the mall would have over tenants situated along an oval-shaped mall corridor, with 1,, square feet of gross leasable area. Overall, the mall occupied 39 acres of land, with the mall building itself spanning nearly half a mile from end to end.

Taubman had undergone negotiations with a large number of retailers prior to seeking approval from the city of Auburn Hills, including Marshalls , T. Concerns from retail analysts at the time included whether Taubman would be able to find enough tenants to fill the mall, and what impact its construction would have on other metro Detroit malls and the Prime Outlets now Birch Run Premium Outlets in Birch Run, then the state's largest outlet mall.

Other retail analysts felt that the presence of upscale stores such as Nordstrom Rack , along with the also-proposed themed restaurants and movie theater, would distinguish the mall from its competition while also allowing for a wider variety of shoppers than most typical outlet malls of the era.

By September , the proposed mall had been named Great Lakes Crossing. Also included in the plans for the mall was a 1,seat food court. Great Lakes Crossing opened on November 12, Taubman predicted that the mall would have over 17 million visitors within its first year, and that its location would be convenient for tourists traveling to northern Michigan. Developers noted that the presence of traditional mall stores would impact other malls located on the north side of metro Detroit, such as Oakland Mall and Summit Place Mall.

Mall developers noted that the mall included several amenities suitable for families and children, including child-accessible restrooms, a children's playplace in the food court, an indoor amusement park called Jeepers! Opening ceremonies lasted for four days; included in the ceremonies were appearances by Miss Michigan Laura Welling; performances by the University of Michigan marching band, jugglers, comedians, and magicians; souvenirs for the first 10, shoppers; and a prize drawing whose grand prize was a power boat offered by Bass Pro Shops.

At opening, 91 percent of the mall's storefronts were leased, and over 54, shoppers attended on opening day. Industry experts from the International Council of Shopping Centers noted that a decrease in traffic was not unusual for a mall in its first year of business, particularly due to factors such as unusually high expectations from retailers following a grand opening, and shopper unfamiliarity with the mall's mix of tenants.

Taubman representatives also noted that, other than a small number of temporary stores that were only open for the Christmas shopping season, the only stores to close within the first year were clothing store J. Riggings and shoe store The Wild Pair , both due to the bankruptcy of their parent company Edison Brothers Stores in In addition, the Wolfgang Puck Cafe was never opened due to financial difficulties, so Taubman Centers underwent negotiations to fill the space where it would have opened.

By , Great Lakes Crossing had begun to have a significant impact on Summit Place Mall in nearby Waterford Township, whose tenancy had decreased more than ten percent since Great Lakes Crossing's opening. JCPenney closed its outlet store at the mall in early