Westfield overhaul

Westfield Broward mall adding dining and entertainment

New shops, outdoor dining, bowling and video games are coming to the Plantation mall.

The Westfield Broward mall’s Sears store in Plantation will be reduced in size by its landlord to make way for new shops, outdoor dining and entertainment space, including bowling and video games, according to records.

The names of the six restaurants and five new retail shops in the development project, which would be “north of [a] $20 million investment,” haven’t been announced yet.

The new site will be “a place to be seen,” said Paul D’Arelli, senior vice president of Seritage Growth Properties, which is the company that bought 235 Sears and K-Mart stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico in 2015, and leases the space back to them.

Sears Holdings Corp. sold the properties for $2.7 billion.

Sears’ 180,000-square-foot space occupies two floors at the Westfield Mall, formerly known as the Broward Mall, at University Drive and Broward Boulevard. Under the plan, it will be downsized by half, including to exclude all of its auto center.

Seritage officials said they will file site plans with Plantation City Hall next week.

Construction could be complete by late next year. Paperwork submitted to City Hall shows the preliminary name of the project is “Plaza at Broward Mall.”

D’Arelli said the proposed site will be a “vibrant, active hub” and have a “sophisticated vibe.”

D’Arelli told the Sun Sentinel on Thursday that the company has already informally notified Sears in a “preliminary discussion” it will “recapture” the space. The store will have to decide on its own how to rearrange its inventory.

“We want this to be a beacon of excitement and energy,” he said of the new project.

Said Mayor Diane Veltri Bendekovic: “I think it’s the missing part we need in the Westfield Mall.”