Two supply cycles: who is building malls, and where.
Westfield Riyadh is structurally complete and moves into its operating phase in the fourth quarter. The Avenues Riyadh follows in 2027. Florentia Village opens outside Istanbul on September 17. In the US the cranes stand on familiar ground: Monmouth Square is rising where Monmouth Mall stood, Sarasota Square rises on the footprint of the mall demolished there in 2025, and Simon is planning Sagefield near Nashville, on land where its announced premium outlet never broke ground.
Retail supply is back on both sides of the Atlantic, through two different instruments. Abroad, the mall is the project. In America, the mall is the site.
Data on malls.com: Every project above, with GLA, opening window and developer, is on the Malls.com new projects page, alongside 50 retailers actively expanding. Brands and developers can submit an expansion or tenant inquiry there: New retail destinations under construction.
The Gulf and Asia are building the biggest boxes.
Riyadh alone has two super-regional openings in the next nine months. Cenomi's Westfield Riyadh, about 220,000 sqm of GLA per the operator's August disclosure, moves into operation in Q4 2026; pre-leasing is close to 94%, the chief executive told Argaam on September 8. The Avenues Riyadh, the Mabanee-led scheme of roughly 370,000 sqm, reported 89% completion and an H1 2027 opening on its first quarter call. Westfield Jeddah entered its operational phase on July 30 at about 96% pre-let.
The pattern repeats east of the Gulf. Central Pattana's The Central on Bangkok's Phaholyothin Road, about 457,000 sqm of gross floor area, targets Q4 2026. SM Prime opens its 82,000 sqm Sta. Rosa flagship by year end after adding its 90th Philippine mall in March. AEON Mall has Thanh Hoa and Ha Long due in Vietnam in H2, plus Date in Japan. In Kuwait, Aventura Mall stood at 96% completion in May, per Zawya, with H&M, Primark, Ulta Beauty and more than 20 further stores already signed by Alshaya.
Brand expansion follows the cranes. Both Westfield centres crossed 90% pre-let before opening; Aventura Kuwait reported leasing above 70% in May, and that signal is being printed in Riyadh, Jeddah and Kuwait, not in Ohio.
America is building on the sites it cleared.
Sarasota Square by Torburn Partners.
The US pipeline is real, and almost none of it is greenfield. Monmouth Square, Kushner's 920,000 sq ft program on the former Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, opened its Whole Foods on July 29; tenants keep opening through 2027, with completion set for 2028. Torburn and Jamestown's Sarasota Square puts an open-air, Whole Foods-anchored first phase on the footprint of the 1977 mall of the same name, demolished in February 2025, targeting Q1 2027. Simon's Sagefield outside Nashville, a program approaching 500,000 sq ft, replaces the 325,000 sq ft premium outlet Simon announced for the site in January 2025 and never built.
Open-air, phased, grocery-anchored, with housing on the plan: that is the American new mall. The other half of US supply growth does not involve a new building at all. Coresight counts more closures than openings through July, yet 26.1 million square feet of net new space, because the average opening, about 19,350 sq ft, runs 80% larger than the average closure. America adds retail space through bigger boxes and recycled sites.
Europe extends and refurbishes.
Promenada București extension.
Europe's cycle is the middle one. NEPI Rockcastle's Promenada București adds 55,400 sqm of mixed-use GLA to a 2013 mall, 95% pre-let for April 2027. Spain has Shopping Promenade Lleida and Nasas Madrid, the Atlético de Madrid project targeting Black Friday 2027. The outlet developers are busiest: Malmö Designer Village, Scotch Corner in North Yorkshire and Alpes The Style Outlets are all dated 2027. In Germany, EHI records 38 refurbishment projects and no classic new-build shopping centre openings for 2026.
Three cycles, three entry tickets for a brand: a Gulf super-regional that pre-lets above 90% before the doors open, an American redevelopment that phases in around a grocer, and a European extension of an asset that already trades. Malls.com now tracks 36 projects under construction with a stated opening window and 6 that opened in 2026, with GLA, opening windows and operators on one page.
What we're watching
→ Lulah Hills, Decatur. EDENS' 320,000 sq ft replacement for North DeKalb Mall is in vertical construction, targeting Q1 2027.
→ Fields West, Frisco. The Texas open-air project reported 75% pre-leased in July for a 2027 to 2028 delivery.
→ The Rise, Cupertino. The approved successor to the former Vallco mall cleared its latest city milestone on August 24.
→ Diriyah Square, Riyadh. About 180,000 sqm and 400 units under construction for 2027, with Apple due from 2026.
→ SM Harrison Plaza, Manila. A flagship of more than 200,000 sqm under construction on the historic site for 2027.
→ Westfield Milano. The scheme has been trimmed to 150,000 sqm and the opening is no longer dated; local estimates say not before 2030.
→ Mall of Europe, Brussels. Phase one capped at 50,000 sqm, with a 2026 review clause pending.
Riyadh and Bangkok are pouring concrete for super-regionals. Europe is extending what it has. America is rebuilding on the ground where the last generation of malls stood.
Abroad, the mall is the project. At home, the mall is the site.
Mati Brooks,
Editor, Malls Money
Malls.com tracks malls, brands, store openings, and retail expansion signals across 50+ countries.