Great Lakes Crossing

Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, formerly Great Lakes Crossing, is a shopping mall in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The site of the mall was originally to have been occupied by a different mall called Auburn Mills, which was never built due to financial issues of its intended developer, Western Development Corporation. Great Lakes Crossing was built on the site and opened in 1998. Constructed and owned by Taubman Centers, Great Lakes Crossing Outlets is the largest outlet mall in the state of Michigan. It features 185 stores, with anchor stores including Burlington, Bass Pro Shops, TJ Maxx, and Marshalls; other notable attractions include a 1,000-seat food court, a 25-screen AMC Star movie theater, Round1, Legoland Discovery Center, and Sea Life Michigan.

History

In 1990, Western Development Corporation (later known as Mills Corporation) proposed to build a shopping mall called Auburn Mills just south of Interstate 75 between Baldwin and Joslyn roads in the city of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Herbert Miller, the then-chairman and CEO of Western Development, announced in a July 1990 interview that the mall would have 230 inline stores, comprising both traditional mall tenants and outlet stores. It would also have nine anchor stores including outlet locations of Sears and JCPenney; also included would be Phar-Mor, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Waccamaw Pottery, the latter two of which had no locations in Michigan at the time. Although the proposed Auburn Mills had received conditional approval from state environmental officials, the property was subjected to two lawsuits filed by the city of Lake Angelus, just across Baldwin Road from the proposed mall site, over traffic and environmental changes that the mall would cause. Oakland County judge Edward Sosnick ruled in favor of the mall developers in August 1990 after determining that the mall would not have significant negative environmental impact. At this point, Western Development had announced that construction would begin within 30 days, with a projected cost of $200 million and projected completion date of late 1992. Western Development then delayed construction until early 1991 after failing to secure a loan toward construction costs. Further delaying construction of the mall was a threat of foreclosure from the Union Bank of Switzerland, a bank which loaned the money to acquire the land in 1989. Western Development first had to acquire a construction loan before it could begin paying off the mortgage but faced difficulty in doing so due to lenders restricting themselves in the wake of the savings and loan crisis. Western Development agreed to let Union Bank of Switzerland take ownership of the mall property in July 1991, effectively canceling any construction by Western Development. Despite this cancellation, Kmart built a prototype store across Joslyn Road in 1992.

Development of Great Lakes Crossing

Taubman Centers made announcements in June 1996 to buy the land from Union Bank and build an outlet mall on the site. Their plans called for a smaller footprint than the originally planned center, so as to lessen the impact on the environment around the property. Taubman Centers had owned the land in the 1980s when it was still zoned residential, but sold it to Western Development in 1989 after that company expressed interest in building a mall. Michael Crosson, a Detroit-based marketing analyst, considered the area to have the most potential for retail growth at the time. In response, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) began expanding Interstate 75's interchange with Baldwin Road. As with Auburn Mills, Taubman's plans for the property called for a large number of anchor stores, along with a mix of outlet stores and traditional mall tenants. As proposed, the mall would have over 185 tenants situated along an oval-shaped mall corridor, with of gross leasable area. It would also be divided into nine different "districts", each with its own décor and tenant mix. Overall, the mall occupied of land, with the mall building itself spanning nearly from end to end. Taubman had undergone negotiations with a large number of retailers prior to seeking approval from the city of Auburn Hills, including various big-box store as well as various department store chains which also operate outlet locations. Detroit-based retail analyst Fred Marx felt that the varied mix of stores would distinguish the mall from competitors such as Prime Outlets (now Birch Run Premium Outlets) in Birch Run, which was then the state's largest outlet mall, without having a negative impact on that mall's business. By September 1997, the proposed mall had been named Great Lakes Crossing. Taubman had estimated building costs at over $100 million, and predicted that nearly 40 percent of sales would come from tourists. Tenants confirmed for the mall by May 1998 included Star Theatres, Rainforest Cafe, GameWorks, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Bed Bath & Beyond, Finish Line, FYE, and Burlington Coat Factory (now known as Burlington), which would be relocating from an existing store in Bloomfield Hills. Several other confirmed tenants of the mall would also be operating their first Michigan locations at the mall, including Oshman's Sporting Goods

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