Dadeland Mall is getting its own hotel
What do you get a mall that has everything? A hotel, of course.
Dadeland Mall, the sprawling shopping mecca at 7535 N. Kendall Drive that spans more than 1.4 million square feet and is anchored by Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, JCPenney and Nordstrom, is getting an AC Hotel by Marriott, the design-focused brand from the hospitality giant.
The 177-room, seven-floor hotel will feature an open-air pool deck area on the second floor. The hotel will be located on the northwest corner of the mall, adjacent to Macy’s Home & Children, near the intersection of U.S. 1 and Kendall Drive.
The hotel will be operated by Concord Hospitality Enterprises, which runs numerous hotels around the U.S., including the Hyatt Centric Brickell Miami. Construction begins this month and is scheduled for completion in 2020.
Unlike the numerous existing hotels within walking distance of Dadeland Mall, the AC Hotel will be directly integrated into the mall via pedestrian connections.
“This is all about travelers, whether business or leisure, enjoying walkability to Dadeland Mall’s amenities such as restaurants and shopping,” said a spokesperson for Simon Property Group. “The addition of a lifestyle hotel brand, like AC Hotel, provides an elevated customer experience with convenient access to one of Miami’s premier shopping destinations.”
Although the idea of adding a hotel to a mall might seem odd, Simon Property Group, the largest shopping mall operator in the U.S., is banking big on the idea. The company announced last year it would spend $4 billion to improve the “experiential” aspects of its properties, such as renovated food halls, courtyards and outdoor villages.
Part of the company’s improvements includes adding hotels to some of its most popular malls. In 2016, the 166-room AC Hotel Atlanta Buckhead opened at the Simon-owned Phipps Plaza in Atlanta.
Construction is underway on a 174-room AC Hotel by Marriott at Sawgrass Mills outlet mall in Sunrise. That eight-story hotel will offer 174 rooms and is scheduled for completion in late 2020.
According to CNBC, Simon owns five of the ten highest-grossing malls in the U.S. in 2019, including Sawgrass Mills, which is valued at $4.1 billion.
Dadeland Mall anchors the increasingly popular Kendall suburb of Dadeland, which recently made a list of the top five neighborhoods in Miami-Dade where rents have risen most.
This story was originally published July 10, 2019 at 2:30 PM.
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