Dadeland Mall facts for kids
Partial view of the mall, as seen from the Palmetto Expressway. The original landmark tower with the letter 'D' is still present.
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| Location | Miami, Florida |
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| Coordinates | 25°41′25″N 80°18′43″W / 25.69028°N 80.31194°W |
| Address | 7535 North Kendall Drive |
| Opening date | October 1, 1962 |
| Developer | Joseph Meyerhoff |
| Management | Simon Property Group |
| Owner | Simon Property Group (50%) Morgan Stanley (50%) |
| No. of stores and services | 167 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 (4 open, 1 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 1,498,485 sq ft (139,213.8 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 with partial upper level (2 in JCPenney, former Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Urban Outfitters, 3 in both Macy's locations) |
Dadeland Mall is a large enclosed shopping mall located in Kendall, Florida, in the Dadeland district. The mall, originally developed by the Joseph Meyerhoff Company of Baltimore, opened October 1, 1962 as a 535,000-square-foot (49,700 m2), open-air complex of 60 stores and services. Dadeland Mall is located between South Dixie Highway (US-1) and the Palmetto Expressway (SR 826) at its southern terminus where it meets US-1. It is also served by the Dadeland North Metrorail station, which has a pedestrian walkway connecting to the mall. The Dadeland South station is located just south of the mall.
History
Originally an open-air center, the mall was anchored by Burdine's (spelled with an apostrophe at the time), and also boasted a Food Fair grocery, full-service Gray Drug and the Summit Restaurant, Lounge and Cafeteria (later known as The Forum). A Jordan Marsh anchor store was added to the west end, which opened in November 1966.
A massive construction project, initiated in late 1969, doubled the size of the mall by twinning it (leaving the huge Burdine's in the middle), and adding a wing of fully enclosed retail onto the east end. Moreover, the existing courts and concourses were fully enclosed and air-conditioned. Another feature of this expansion was the King of the Mall, an enormous Burger King (whose corporate headquarters were then located across from Dadeland on North Kendall Drive). This renovation project was completed with the opening of JCPenney, the mall's new east anchor store, in early 1971.
A third expansion, undertaken in early 1983, added Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor to the south-facing front of the complex. A food court had also opened, in the shuttered Pantry Pride (former Food Fair) supermarket, in late 1983.
From 1984-1987, a massive renovation project, orchestrated by architect Dick Johnson, had the aging animal statues and drop ceiling removed. Considered a new approach at the time, it modernized the entire mall.
The iconic seahorse statue was deliberately cut in half, and dumped in the Snapper Creek Canal, never to be seen again.
The other modern smooth colored concrete animals and geometric slides were donated to Miami-Dade County and can be seen in Dante Fascell Park in South Miami and at the Miami-Dade County children's day care center play yard to the east of Jackson Memorial Hospital. Lord & Taylor closed their location in 2004 citing market conditions. It became Nordstrom that same year.
One of the unique trademarks of the shopping complex is the concrete tower with a giant "D" (for Dadeland) at the top. This local landmark was there from the beginning. The photo at the right shows it in its original aqua color.
Dadeland Mall today
Today, Dadeland is managed by the Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, who purchased 50% of the center in 1997. Morgan Stanley owns the other 50%. The anchors include Florida's largest Macy's (Macy's Florida's flagship store), as well as Macy's Home Gallery & Kids (the west end anchor), JCPenney, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Former tenants of the west end anchor space, currently occupied by the Macy's Home Gallery & Kids, were Jordan Marsh (1966-1991) and Burdines Home Store (1993-2005), which was eventually to be taken over by Mervyns with Dillard's as another bidder, but these stores didn't take over the space. Former tenants of the southeast end anchor space were Lord & Taylor (1983-2004) and Nordstrom (2004-2020) and is now vacant.
Dadeland Mall's largest restaurant is The Cheesecake Factory.
The outer part of the mall, particularly the original main entrance, was featured in the 1985 Chuck Norris film Invasion U.S.A. The inside and outside of the mall was featured in the 1990 Alec Baldwin film Miami Blues. The mall has been remodeled since both of those films however. In the late 1990s, talks were underway about adding a second floor to the entire mall. This project will once again double the malls space plus add second floor access to the anchor stores all of which already have second floors.
On May 11, 2020, Nordstrom announced that they would be permanently closing its store by August 2020.
Anchor stores
- JCPenney
- Macy's
- Macy's Home Gallery and Kids
- Saks Fifth Avenue
- Apple Store
Images for kids
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Aerial view looking northwest over the Dadeland Mall (circa 1969)
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Fountain at the Dadeland Mall (circa 1969)
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J.C. Penney Dadeland Mall
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Macy's Home Store Entrance Dadeland Mall. Former Jordan Marsh
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