The Largest Mall in America Could Be Opening in Miami Lakes, Artificial Ski Slope Included

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Legoland, submarines, an artificial ski slope, and 500,000 square feet of high-end retail could soon be your biggest draw to visit Miami Lakes. Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced yesterday that the developers behind Mall of America in Minneapolis are planning to build the largest mall in America (if not, the world) near the intersection of the Florida Turnpike and I-75.

It would be HUGE. Spread out over 200 acres, "American World" or "American Dreams Miami" (the name is a work in progress, thankfully), would be part amusement park, part mega shopping center. It would surpass South Florida's two biggest retail landmarks: Aventura Mall is the second largest mall in the country and Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise is the seventh.

But could Miami's mall market be getting over saturated? Aventura Mall and Bal Harbour Shops are expanding, Miami Worldcenter is on its way with a Macy's and a Bloomingdale's, Brickell City Centre and its Saks Fifth Avenue are due to open in 2016, and Design District's luxury retail complex is practically complete.

According to Miami New Times, though, there still seems to be room. Retail vacancy rates are low and rents are high, which means retailers are definitely going after their own "American Dreams" of expanding to America's tropical frontier. Now as for the artificial ski slope and submarine complex, we're not sure if those ever were part of the American Dream, but it seems in this city, anything goes.