Tysons Galleria is a super-regional mall owned by GGP Inc. and is located at 2001 International Drive in McLean, Virginia. Tysons Galleria is the second largest mall in McLean in the Tysons Corner area and one of the largest in Washington’s metropolitan area. As a super-regional mall, it is over 800,00 square feet and serves as a dominating shopping venue for the region.
The property on which Tysons Galleria was built was purchased from The Rouse Company who lost a zoning dispute over the site in 1963. In 1981 Ted Lerner, founder of the real estate company Lerner Enterprises, bought out the partnership for $21 million before starting on a $550 million expansion. The mall opened in 1988 with high-end department stores like Neiman Marcus and Saks 5th Avenue. Since its opening, Tysons Galleria has been renovated to look more like a European streetscape and was expanded upon by the Homart Development Company in 1997.
Eventually, the mall started attracting the high-end tenants and attention that it was hoping for. In 2002, National Geographic stated that Tyson Galleria was the Rodeo Drive of the East Coast. The Washington Post described the mall as bright and elegant. In 2003, Tysons Galleria was rated one of the top 15 sales-producing shopping centers regarding dollars per square foot.
Tysons Galleria has a wide variety of services and amenities, including valet parking and concierge services such as having large purchases be delivered and organized into the customer’s closet. The mall has even given out reserved parking spaces for customers that consistently shop there. This high-end shopping center also has a variety of other things such as foreign currency exchanges, spas, security escorts, and taxi services. There are many nice hotels in the surrounding area, but the adjacent Ritz-Carlton hotel is accessible from inside the mall. The Ritz-Carlton attracts wealthy visitors from all over the world, especially Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East.
GGP Inc. has also committed to sustainability when it comes to their properties, such as Tysons Galleria, and want to reduce their impact on the planet by treating every day like Earth Day. To date, they have saved enough water to fill about 100 Olympic-size swimming pools and have conserved enough energy to power every house in Napa, California. GGP Inc. has also composed enough food to fill more than 6,200 garbage trucks and have reduced their overall carbon footprint enough to be comparative to removing about 19,800 cars off of U.S. roads.
There are also several attractions near Tysons Galleria that can make your trip to McLean, Virginia even more exciting and eventful. George Washington’s Mount Vernon is one of the nation’s most beloved sites and offers a glimpse into 18th-century plantation life. Mount Vernon is filled with fantastic gardens, museum exhibits, and immersive programs that honor George Washington’s legacy. Some other great attractions include the National Mall and Memorial Parks, where each year, millions of people visit to recreate and commemorate presidential legacies, honor veterans, and celebrate freedom and equality.