Broward Mall Reopens Center Court After Multi-Phase Renovation

Broward Mall reopened its renovated center court to the public this week, completing the most visible phase of an interior renovation project the mall's management has been working through over the past year. The Plantation shopping center, anchored by Macy's, Sears, JCPenney and Dillard's, sits at the intersection of University Drive and Broward Boulevard and is one of the most heavily trafficked traditional regional malls in central Broward.

The renovation focused on the central two-story atrium. New tile flooring, updated seating, refreshed lighting fixtures and a redesigned soft-seating zone replace the layout that had been in place since the mall's last major refresh in the 1990s. The previously enclosed central food kiosk has been reconfigured to open up sightlines between the upper and lower levels, and a new directory and family-restroom layout has been installed near the main escalator bank.

Management said the renovation was timed around continued tenant turnover at the property. Several smaller specialty-retail spaces have changed hands over the past year, with new tenants including national mall-format chains in apparel and accessories. The mall continues to host a 12-screen AMC movie theater, a sit-down restaurant cluster on the perimeter pad sites, and a Champps and other restaurant tenants in adjacent freestanding buildings.

The Plantation location has functioned as a regional mall for west-central Broward since opening in 1978. It draws daily traffic from Plantation, Sunrise, Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes and parts of Davie, with several BCT bus routes converging at the transit stop on the Broward Boulevard side of the property. The nearby Plantation Fashion Mall — a smaller indoor mall a short drive west on Broward Boulevard — has struggled with vacancy in recent years, and Broward Mall's ownership has positioned the renovation as part of an effort to keep the property differentiated.

Weekend foot traffic during the renovation's reopening matched typical late-winter levels at the mall. The full set of mall hours and tenant directory is published on the property's website. Construction work on a smaller phase covering the lower-level corridor near JCPenney is scheduled to continue through the spring.