For decades, the roof was the shortcut for sorting shopping centers: enclosed malls on one side, open-air formats on the other. Projects making news in October and November 2026 treat it as a district-by-district design decision, and the largest bets are landing on opposite answers.
The traffic data won’t settle it. In Placer.ai’s September index, visits to its sample of 100 open-air centers grew 5.6% year on year, against 5.5% for 100 top-tier indoor malls, the smallest margin of 2026, with a Labor Day calendar effect in the comparison. Those numbers alone don’t explain performance.
A new downtown near Atlanta skipped the roof.
Medley opened on October 29 in Johns Creek, on a former State Farm office campus that Toro Development bought in 2024. The $560 million mixed-use plan covers 43 acres, and its first phase includes about 125,000 square feet of retail and 340 apartments.
The development is organized around a 25,000-square-foot plaza with a stage. About 25 openings surround it, including Shake Shack, Sephora, Drybar and Petfolk, next to a Trader Joe’s that has been open since June.
Enclosed owners are borrowing the move without tearing anything down. At The Shops at Mission Viejo, an enclosed center that opened in 1979, Simon is adding a 50,000-square-foot outdoor village with North Italia, Pacific Catch, Arhaus and Uniqlo. The roof stays. A street gets built next to it.
The full map: Open-air malls: where new shopping centers are dropping the roof compares 18 projects across the US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East by format, size and status.
Kuala Lumpur and Laguna are bringing the sky inside.
118 Mall, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
118 Mall opened on November 1 at the base of Merdeka 118 with 158 stores trading on day one, according to PNB, out of more than 300 planned across seven levels. Its principal event space is The Atmosphere, a 20,000-square-foot square on Level 4 under an 88-meter glass dome.
SM Supermalls has set November 27 for SM Nuvali in Santa Rosa, Laguna, SM’s 91st mall. It wraps a one-hectare air-conditioned indoor garden with playgrounds, a pet park and restaurants facing onto it. In a tropical climate, SM keeps the roof and brings the park underneath it.
Riyadh is building the same street from both directions.
The Avenues Riyadh.
Two retail projects planned for Riyadh in 2027 split the decision inside one city. The Avenues Riyadh, from Shomoul and Mabanee, is planned at about 370,000 square meters of GLA around a climate-controlled retail street under a translucent roof. The Bellevue, from Unified with Gensler, is an open-air center on one to two levels with more than 90,000 square meters of leasable area.
Same city, same delivery year. Watch which brands sign for both, and at what rent.
Poland’s retail parks build around everyday shopping.
BIG Olkusz opened on October 22 with a Kaufland as anchor, and BIG Konstantynów followed on October 29; both opened fully leased. Units face the car park and shoppers move between them outdoors. Depending on size and tenant mix, the closest US equivalents range from community centers to power centers. What links them to Medley is the grocery trip.
What we're watching
→ Westfield UTC celebrated its expanding luxury offer on October 24–25. The nearly 70,000-square-foot project on the former Nordstrom site has been opening in phases since early 2026, with Chanel, Tom Ford and Saint Laurent among the announced tenants.
→ Roma Outlet Village Stores start trading at the November 6 preview, ahead of a grand-opening weekend on November 7–8. Phase 1 covers 21,000 square meters and about 90 stores.
→ Sarasota Square Torburn Partners is replacing a 1977 enclosed mall with an open-air district anchored by Whole Foods and Homesense. Phase 2 is targeted for the end of 2028.
New on Market
OTO Park Lubin opened on October 22 with 30 units on more than 14,000 square meters. Estrea Park Hadzhi Dimitar in Sofia opened on September 24 with all 22 units let. BIG Piła, a 38,000-square-meter complex, opens in stages from November. More openings and pipeline projects: Market: new projects.
The roof used to sort the format. In 2026 developers decide it zone by zone: a plaza in Johns Creek, a glass dome in Kuala Lumpur, a garden in Laguna, a covered street and an open one in Riyadh, parking-facing units in Poland.
Shoppers don’t choose a roof. They choose where to stay longer.
Mati Brooks,
Editor, Malls Money