Open air malls are gaining favor in South Florida, forcing some aging enclosed malls to add their own outdoor shopping space.

A new enclosed mall has not opened in the United States since 2006 and some analysts question whether South Florida will ever see another one.

Instead, developers have built a series of outdoor retail centers that shoppers have increasingly embraced.

"Indoor malls are becoming dinosaurs and shoppers are seeing this," said Debra Sinkle Kolsky, president of Redevco Management in Miami. She said the outdoor centers are like small downtown areas in new communities that don't have any.

The newest open air mall will be the replacement for the Palm Beach Mall, in West Palm Beach. Built as an indoor mall in the 1967, it will be demolished in April to make way for a $150 million, 1.1 million-square-foot outlet center scheduled to reopen in fall 2013.

Outdoor centers attract shoppers because they are often smaller, making them easy to navigate on foot, developers say. Shoppers have the option to park very close to stores and can drive through and around the center to see what it has to offer.

Andrea Riffle, a shopper from Weston, likes the Weston Town Center and the Shops at Pembroke Gardens. "It's a shame to be locked in a huge building with no windows when we live in such a great climate," she said.

"Parking always seems to be easier," she added. "Generally outdoor plazas have several small lots around the shopping area rather than a couple of big lots."

Although store construction has slowed in South Florida, outdoor centers are still coming out of the ground. Malls built in the past five years include The Shops at Pembroke Gardens, opened in 2007, Promenade at Coconut Creek, opened in 2008, and The Delray Marketplace, which plans to open this fall.

The Mall at Wellington Green, which was built in 2001, was among the last of the enclosed centers to open in South Florida.

Jason Samreny, vice president of leasing of Kite Realty Group, the developer behind the Delray Marketplace, said stores are only part of the outdoor center formula. "The trend is to incorporate a tenant mix of retailers, restaurants and entertainment in an area accessible to neighborhoods."

Enclosed malls aren't dead yet. Some South Florida malls are trying to get in on the outdoor trend by creating semi-outdoor dining and shopping areas.

The Town Center at Boca Raton built an outdoor dining expansion on the south side of the mall in 2007. Aventura Mall, Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens and Sawgrass Mills also have outdoor villages.

Even when developers propose an enclosed mall, cities can balk. Developer Kathy Sawin approached Coconut Creek about building an enclosed shopping center. "The city didn't approve it. It wasn't what they wanted," Sawin said.

So the Promenade at Coconut Creek was redesigned to look more like a village. "These open-air centers are town centers in places that otherwise wouldn't have a downtown area at all."

Jusgriffin@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4528 or Twitter: @SunBizGriffin