Garden State Plaza

Garden State Plaza
Interior of Garden State Plaza, 2014
Map
LocationParamus, New Jersey
Coordinates40°55′08″N 74°04′35″W / 40.91896°N 74.07639°W / 40.91896; -74.07639
Address1 Garden State Plaza
Opening dateMay 1, 1957[1]
DeveloperR.H. Macy Company[1]
ManagementUnibail-Rodamco-Westfield
OwnerUnibail-Rodamco Westfield
No. of stores and services300 (As of March 2014)[2]
No. of anchor tenants3 at 1957 opening[3]
Total retail floor area2,118,718 sq ft (196,835.3 m2)[4]
No. of floors2 (3 in Macy's, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom)
ParkingParking lot, parking garage, and valet parking with 10,796 parking spaces.[4]
Public transit accessBus transport NJ Transit NJ Transit bus: 163, 171, 175, 707, 709, 756, 758, 770
Websitewestfield.com/gardenstateplaza

Garden State Plaza (officially Westfield Garden State Plaza) is a shopping mall located in Paramus, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Owned and managed by Paris-based real estate management company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, the mall is situated at the intersection of Route 4 and Route 17 near the Garden State Parkway, about 15 miles (24 km) west of the New York City borough of Manhattan.[5] Opened in 1957 as the first suburban shopping mall in New Jersey,[3][6] it has 300 stores[5] and 2,118,718 sq ft (196,835.3 m2) of leasable space,[4][7] ranked in 2022 as the 16th-largest shopping mall in United States[8] and qualifying it as a super-regional mall according to the standards of the International Council of Shopping Centers.[9]

The mall had sales of $775 per square foot in 2013, almost 75% above the national average.[10] In a study of malls in the United States performed on behalf of CNBC, published in 2018, Garden State Plaza ranked ninth in the nation, based on sales of $950 per square foot.[11] Most of the mall, especially retail outlets, is closed on Sunday in accordance with state and local blue laws.[12] Since April 2023, minors under the age of 18 are required to have an adult over 21 supervise them on Friday and Saturday nights.[13]

In a borough where half of the property tax revenue comes from retail properties, Garden State Plaza accounts for 10% of the property taxes collected in Paramus.[14]

As of August 2022, its anchors are Macy's, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and AMC Theatres.[15][16]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NYT19570502 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Ma, Myles. "Garden State Plaza in Paramus starts $130 million remodeling project", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 10, 2013, updated March 30, 2019. Accessed February 18, 2022. "The Garden State Plaza started work Monday to replace a parking deck, the mall announced on its Facebook page.... The new space is scheduled to open in the spring of 2014. The mall will have close to 300 stores when work is complete."
  3. ^ a b Anzidei, Melanie. "Westfield Garden State Plaza's transformation a sign of changing times in retail", The Record, May 6, 2019. Accessed November 13, 2023. "Westfield Garden State Plaza is no stranger to innovation. In 1957, it opened as the first suburban mall in New Jersey.... Garden State Plaza was born as a one-level open air center in 1957, operated by R.H. Macy. The center’s original anchor stores were Bamberger's, Gimbel's, and J.C. Penney, surrounded by 90 smaller specialty shops."
  4. ^ a b c Westfield Garden State Plaza Archived August 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Westfield Group. Accessed June 6, 2008.
  5. ^ a b Queally, James; Sherman, Ted; Grant, Jason (November 5, 2013). "Garden State Plaza shooting suspect killed self in mall, authorities say". NJ.com.
  6. ^ "Garden State Shopping Center Due to Open May 1 in Paramus; It Will Be Largest in Jersey --Bergen Mall Being Built Less Than a Mile Away", The New York Times, March 20, 1957. p. 49. Accessed February 27, 2021. "The Garden State Plaza Shopping Center, being built in Paramus, N.J., will open on May 1, it was announced yesterday. The center will be the largest in the state."
  7. ^ Westfield Garden State Plaza Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed June 6, 2008.
  8. ^ Rehman, Habib Ur. "25 Largest Shopping Malls in the United States", Yahoo!, December 7, 2022. Accessed November 9, 2023. "16. Westfield Garden State Plaza Retail Space: 2.16 million Square Feet Westfield Garden State Plaza is a shopping center in Paramus, New Jersey."
  9. ^ U.S. Shopping-Center Classification and Typical Characteristics, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed July 31, 2023.
  10. ^ Na, Myles. "Garden State Plaza addition to include Tory Burch, Microsoft stores", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, December 4, 2013. Accessed November 9, 2023. "Several international retailers plan to open their first U.S. stores at Garden State Plaza. The mall boasts sales of more than $775 per square foot, compared to the national average of $455, according to Retail Property Insights."
  11. ^ Remo, Jessica. "This N.J. mall is 1 of most lucrative in country, study says", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 31, 2018. Accessed March 7, 2018. "The study (done for CNBC by analysts Boenning & Scattergood) says Garden State Plaza ranks ninth in the country for revenue-producing malls and put it among the top 10 malls in the U.S. with 'A' ratings and little to no vacancies. The mall has a total asset value of $2.71 billion, which equates to $950 in sales per square foot, according to the research."
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference BCBlueLaw was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Munoz, Daniel (April 13, 2023). "Under 18? You'll need an adult chaperone on weekend evenings at the Garden State Plaza". North Jersey.com. Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference NJ20190501 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Furnas, Dawn. "Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus to undergo ‘transformation’", NJBiz, August 23, 2022. Accessed November 13, 2023. "As part of the project, Garden State Plaza — a 2.1 million-square-foot destination anchored by Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy’s and AMC Theatres — will be reimagined, with the surface parking areas to the west of the shopping center converted into the luxury apartments, plazas, parks, gardens, health and wellness amenities, commercial office space, as well as a transit center – alongside new outdoor shops, restaurants and community event spaces."
  16. ^ "Fitch Affirms RBS Commercial Funding Inc. 2013-GSP", Fitch Ratings, April 26, 2021. Accessed November 9, 2023. "High Quality Asset in Primary Market: Garden State Plaza is a 2.2 million-sf super-regional mall located in Paramus, NJ. The three anchors, Macy's, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom, as well as the major tenant AMC Loews theatre, own their own spaces and are only subject to ground leases."