Garden State Plaza Getting $160M Makeover

The Westfield Group (Sydney) has announced a $160 million expansion and improvement of Garden State Plaza (Paramus, N.J.).

A 55,000-square-foot addition to the 56-year-old mall at the country’s busiest traffic intersection – Routes 4 and 17 in suburban New Jersey – will accommodate 23 new retailers, including Tory Burch, Vince Camuto, Maje, Sandro, Scotch & Soda, A|X Armani Exchange and Microsoft. The addition is scheduled to open in March 2014.

Westfield said it is also looking to expand its luxury offering alongside current tenants like Tiffany, Gucci and Louis Vuitton.

“This is a bedroom community of Manhattan,” Bryan Gaus, the property’s senior general manager, told Women’s Wear Daily, a suggestion that customers in the area are in fact sophisticated and affluent.

Other new retailers will be Kiko Makeup Milano’s first U.S. store, Triumph intimate apparel, Robin’s Jean, Lululemon’s new Ivivva concept and Havaianas.

“We’re selecting brands that meet, if not exceed, our current average sales per square foot,” Gaus told Women’s Wear, which reported that the mall currently has sales of more than $775 per square foot, well above the national average of $455.