It’s a new era for The Mall at Green Hills.

The regional shopping destination in one of Nashville’s most affluent neighborhoods will unveil a completed redevelopment on Friday, which includes a new two-level wing with a much-anticipated interior connection to Dillard’s department store, an extensive list of new tenants and more parking.

The mall’s interior has also been remodeled with a more modern design, new seating, charging stations and updated interior fixtures.

This yearslong, roughly $200 million renovation and expansion changes the face of the mall and delivers a new experience for shoppers.

“We basically have remade the whole shopping center,” said Bill Taubman, chief operating officer of Michigan-based Taubman Centers, which purchased the mall in late 2011 as part of a $560 million deal that also included a mall in Palm Desert, California.

Between new tenants and remodeled and relocated stores, Taubman estimated some 65-75% of the mall’s lineup has changed in the last two years to make the offerings fresh and contemporary. When Taubman Centers purchased the site eight years ago, Taubman had a long-term vision to expand home offerings, bring in more luxury tenants, add certain moderately-priced tenants, deliver new food offerings and build a new Dillard’s store.

“Given the size of the property, it just lacked the full complement of retailers we felt were relevant for customers of Nashville,” Taubman said.

New shops, dining options, parking at Green Hills

Tenants opening in the mall’s new two-level wing this week will include Foot Locker, Forever 21, G-Star RAW, Cinnabon, GNC Live Well and Auntie Anne’s/Jamba Juice. Vans will open June 26.

Retail tenants coming soon to the entire mall will include Abercrombie & Fitch, Abercrombie Kids, Aerie, American Eagle, Casper, Crate & Barrel, David Yurman (relocating), Dry Goods, Soft Surroundings and Warby Parker.

New dining options coming soon will include Cava, Chopt, North Italia and kiosks from Colts Chocolates and Coco’s Italian Market.

These new tenants are on top of a slew of recent additions to the mall, including Altar’d State, Indochino, Journeys, Johnny Was, Peloton, RH Nashville – The Gallery at Green Hills, Sundance and Untuckit.

All told, The Mall at Green Hills will house about 55 retailers that are unique to the market, including Tennessee’s only Nordstrom store. The mall has more than 100 stores and eateries.

“At every price point, we’ve remixed the tenant mix to make it more relevant and compelling,” Taubman said.

The new tenants are only one part of the story at The Mall at Green Hills. The complicated renovation and expansion project was completed in multiple phases to ensure the mall could remain open and there was enough parking during construction.

First, a new parking deck was constructed to support Dillard’s, then a new 180,000-square-foot Dillard’s store was built with parking underneath, then the old Dillard’s store was razed to make room for more parking and a new mall wing was constructed to connect Dillard’s to the entire center. During all of this, the 70,000-square-foot RH Nashville (formerly Restoration Hardware) was constructed and the mall’s interior was remodeled.

For more than two years, shoppers had to use an outdoor pathway to get from Dillard’s to the mall and vice versa.

Meanwhile, more than 1,500 parking spaces have been added to the mall since 2015, bringing the center’s total to more than 4,300 spots.

Malls under pressure as shoppers move online

Taubman poured money into The Mall at Green Hills during a time of turmoil for many shopping centers, department store chains and apparel stores across the U.S. Struggling retailers continue to downsize as customers’ buying habits change drastically with the rise of online shopping.

The U.S. neighborhood and community shopping center retail vacancy rate grew from 10% in the first quarter of 2018 to 10.2% during the same period this year, according to a report by research firm Reis. The closure of dozens of Sears stores caused the regional mall vacancy rate to increase by 0.3% to 9.3% during the first quarter of the year.

Reis predicts store closures this year will put additional pressure on malls.

"As the retail sector continues to undergo restructuring, a number of retail real estate markets face more vacancies and falling rents. This pattern is expected to continue as more stores will close this year," the report says.

But Taubman's expansion in Green Hills signals confidence in Nashville-area shoppers and strengthens the mall's position as a regional shopping destination. Other malls in the area include Opry Mills, RiverGate Mall, Stones River Mall and CoolSprings Galleria.

“Centers like Green Hills will continue to gain market share. We’ve really expanded the retail mall area by 50% and our sales have continued to go up. Notwithstanding the construction, we have continued to gain market share the entire time,” Taubman said.

Also this week, The Mall at Green Hills announced Norah Buikstra, the mall’s facilities director, will be promoted to general manager effective June 29. Buikstra replaces longtime general manager Kimberly Hales, who will retire at the end of the month.

Reach Lizzy Alfs at lalfs@tennessean.com or 615-726-5948 and on Twitter @lizzyalfs.

Want to read more stories like this? A Tennessean subscription gets you unlimited access to all the latest retail, dining and development news, free newsletters, a personalized mobile experience and the ability to tap into stories, photos and videos from throughout the USA TODAY Network's 109 local sites. Click here to subscribe.