The sign that directs shoppers outside the mall
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Location | Milpitas, California, United States |
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Developer | Ford Motor Land Development and Petrie Dierman Kughn |
Management | Simon Property Group |
Owner | Simon Property Group |
No. of stores and services | 200 |
No. of anchor tenants | 11 |
Total retail floor area | 1,361,920 square feet |
No. of floors | 1 |
Public transit access | Great Mall/Main Transit Center |
Website | Official Website |
The Great Mall of the Bay Area (often simply called The Great Mall) is a large indoor outlet shopping mall in Milpitas, California built by Ford Motor Land Development and Petrie Dierman Kughn in 1994. It was acquired by Mills Corporation in 2003, and by the Simon Property Group in April 2007. The mall contains approximately 1.4 million square feet of gross leaseable area.
The Mall was formerly a Ford Motor Company San Jose Assembly Plant that was founded in the 1950s. Ford Mustangs were produced at this plant and Mustangs bearing the name San Jose as the assembly location were in fact built in Milpitas. Fairlanes, Torinos, Pintos, F-Series pickup trucks and Escorts; Edsel Rangers and Pacers; and Mercury Cougars, Montegos, Comets, Bobcats, Lynxes, & Capris (US version) were also assembled here. The plant closed down in 1983 in part due to increasing competition with Japanese auto manufacturers. In the early 1990s, developers resized the former plant and converted it into a mall. Today, an oak tree with a plaque commemorating Great Mall's history stands in the southwest section of its parking lot.
The Great Mall of the Bay Area, which opened on September 22, 1994, was developed as a joint venture between Ford Motor Land Development Corporation of Dearborn, Michigan and Petrie Dierman Kughn of McLean, Virginia.