Briarwood Mall announcing major renovation project

Briarwood Mall’s parent company, the Simon Property Group, will announce a major renovation of the Ann Arbor mall at a press conference on March 5.

Simon has managed the property since 2007, but purchased full ownership of the mall in 2012 as part of a $1.5 billion transaction with previous partners Farallon Capital Management, LLC. The shopping center is the largest in Washtenaw county and the city of Ann Arbor’s biggest taxpayer.

The renovation comes on the heels of announcements from a series of luxury brand stores making plans to move into the shopping center including Michael Kors and Soma Intimates.

The mall’s taxable value has fallen by approximately $6 million since its $43.8 million assessment in 2010. The center remains comfortably ahead of Arborland Shopping Center as the highest taxpayer in the city and is still a Class A shopping center thanks to its anchor stores and tenant mix.

The one million square-foot mall was originally developed by A. Alfred Taubman at the corner of I-94 and South State Street in the early 1970s.

Mall manager Ida Hendrix will speak at the announcement, along with the lead architect for the project and representatives from the A2Y Chamber of Commerce.

Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2