The Mills at Simon Property Group has broken ground on a 60k SF addition to The Outlets at Orange shopping center. The addition will add 12 retail tenants and is scheduled to open ahead of the 2016 holiday retail season. Santa Ana-based Moorefield Construction is the general contractor.

The expansion includes three one-story buildings on the east side of the shopping center surrounding a pedestrian plaza with a water feature and seating, according to the Orange County Business Journal. Such plazas add to the experience of shopping. The 898k SF center currently has nine buildings with 753k SF of leasable space. Valet parking service is being added near Nordstrom Rack. The Mills at Simon Property Group president Gregg Goodman says the new tenants are at the top of the company’s customer request list.

The Outlets at Orange has 120 retail tenants and is anchored by AMC Movie Theater, Lucky Strike Lanes, Nordstrom Rack, Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH and Neiman Marcus Last Call. The center reported $276.6M in taxable sales for the 2014-15 fiscal year that ended last June, up 9% from the previous fiscal year. [OCBJ]