HIGH-END MALLS STILL REIGN IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NEW NORDSTROM, SAKS ANCHOR REFURBISHED SHOPS AT MISSION VIEJO IN ORANGE COUNTY.

Daily News Record, September, 1999 by Courtay, Romy de

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. -- How many upscale malls can Orange County support?

Apparently at least one more.

After a 15-month renovation valued at more than $150 million, Mission Viejo Mall reopened Sept. 10 as The Shops at Mission Viejo with a new anchor tenants Nordstrom and Saks.

Nordstrom opened Sept. 10. Saks will open Nov. 19.

In the first three days, the mall attracted 160,000 customers and, according to a Mission Viejo Shops' representative, is well on its way to drawing its non-holiday-month goal of one million shoppers during its first month.

The Shops at Mission Viejo, owned by Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, has increased its size by 45 percent to 1.2 million square feet of gross leasable space and now...