Plaza Las Américas Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Plaza Las Américas


Location	Hato Rey, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Coordinates	18°25′19″N 66°4′28″W / 18.42194°N 66.07444°W / 18.42194; -66.07444
Opening date	September 3, 1968
Developer	Empresas Fonalledas, Inc.
Management	Franklin Domenech
Owner	Plaza Las Américas, Inc Empresas Fonalledas, Inc.
No. of stores and services	300+
No. of anchor tenants	7
Total retail floor area	1,900,000 sq ft (180,000 m²)
No. of floors	3 of shopping mall (4 in JCPenney, closed 4th floor in Macy's) 12 of office bldg. ("La Torre")
Parking	11,300+ (approx.)

Plaza Las Américas is a huge shopping mall in Hato Rey, San Juan, Puerto Rico. It's located where two main roads, Routes 18 and 22, meet. Many Puerto Ricans simply call it "Plaza." It was the first indoor shopping mall ever built in Puerto Rico. Today, it's the biggest shopping mall in the Caribbean and the second largest in all of Latin America! Some of its main stores include JCPenney, Macy's, Sears, Forever 21, Old Navy, Caribbean Cinemas, and Marshalls. Soon, you'll also find Cuba Libre and Planet Fitness there.

The Story of Plaza Las Américas
Growing Bigger and Better
Cool Things About Plaza Las Américas
New and Closed Stores
- Stores That Closed in 2020
- Coming Soon to Plaza
Images for kids
See also

The Story of Plaza Las Américas

How the Mall Began

Back in 1918, four siblings named Jerónimo, Rosa, Gerardo, and Jaime Fonalledas bought a large piece of land. It was about 527 acres and was known as "Las Monjas." At first, they used the land for growing sugar cane. But by 1920, they started changing it to create a milk company called "Vaquería Tres Monjitas."

In the 1950s, the city of San Juan was growing very fast. The city planners decided to develop the land. This gave the Fonalledas family an idea: they thought about building a big shopping center on their "Las Monjas" property. The city's plan even set aside 15 acres for a shopping center.

Building the First Mall

In 1962, the family started making plans for the mall and talking to stores that might want to open there. Construction of Plaza Las Américas officially began in April 1967. An engineer named Peter Jacobson led the building work.

The grand opening of Plaza Las Américas happened on September 3, 1968. It was a huge event! It became the very first enclosed shopping center in Puerto Rico. At that time, it was also the largest in all of Latin America.

Opening Day Fun

When it first opened, Plaza Las Américas had 79 different stores. It also had a movie theater with two screens and parking for 4,000 cars. Every single store space was rented out, and nearly 2,000 people got jobs at the new mall.

The biggest store was a three-level J.C. Penney. It was the first J.C. Penney store outside the United States and their largest one for several years. The mall also had two local department stores, González Padín and Velasco. Other stores included popular brands like Gordon's Jewelers, Florsheim Shoes, Lerner Shops, and Thom McAn. There was even a F. W. Woolworth Company, a pharmacy, a toy store, and a supermarket.

Early Awards and Growth

Just one year after opening, the design of Plaza Las Américas won an award. It was called the URBE Award for Best Commercial Architecture. This showed how special the mall's design was.

Growing Bigger and Better

First Major Expansion

In 1979, Plaza Las Américas got its first big upgrade. They added a new section called the North Wing, which had three levels and 55 new stores. A large, three-level Sears store became the main attraction in this new part.

This expansion also brought the "Terraza de Plaza," which was the first food court on the island! It was on the third level of the new section. They also added three more movie screens, bringing the total to five.

More Growth in the 90s

By 1992, plans for an even bigger expansion were announced. In 1994, this second major expansion was finished. The "Terraza" food court was also remodeled, adding more restaurants. The number of movie screens grew from 5 to 10.

A new office building called the "Torre de Plaza" (Plaza Tower) was also completed. This tower added a lot more space for businesses. In 1996, Plaza Las Américas announced its biggest expansion and remodeling project yet, costing over $246 million!

In 1997, the mall's advertising campaign won a special award called the Maxi Award. The next year, the first part of the huge expansion was finished. This included a brand new, four-level J.C. Penney store. This new Penney's was the largest in the entire chain! The old J.C. Penney space was then divided into new smaller stores. In 1999, a new bridge over the De Diego Expressway opened, making it easier for people to get to the mall.

New Millennium, New Look

By 2000, the remodeling and expansion were complete. The mall had a fresh new look and over 300 stores! A three-level Macy's store opened on October 25. This was the first Macy's store outside the United States.

Caribbean Cinemas also opened a huge movie theater with thirteen screens. It quickly became the busiest and most successful movie theater in their entire chain. The mall also added "public art" pieces by local artists, making it a more beautiful place to visit.

Recent Updates

In 2012, Plaza Las Américas spent $12 million to update the mall's north entrance. This work was finished just before the busy holiday season. They also expanded the multi-story parking garage, adding over 300 new parking spaces. All the parking areas were repaved, and new gardens were planted at the main entrance.

On August 28, 2013, the first ever Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Puerto Rico opened at Plaza. In 2014, Sports Authority opened, along with more parking. However, Sports Authority closed in 2016. A Marshalls store replaced it in February 2018. Also, a Red Lobster restaurant opened in early 2018.

In September 2018, the mall celebrated its 50th anniversary! In December 2019, it was announced that a Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar would open by January 2021. As of December 2019, the mall is 1,900,000 square feet in size.

Plaza During the Pandemic

In March 2020, the mall had to close because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened on June 1 with new safety rules. These included new hours, mandatory face masks, and social distancing. At first, you needed reservations to visit, limited to 2 people. Later, this changed to 4 people. By July 3, reservations were no longer needed, but face masks were still required.

Cool Things About Plaza Las Américas

The Caribbean Cinemas and mall entrance on the second floor

It is the largest shopping center in the Caribbean.
Plaza's Macy's was the first one to open in the Caribbean.
Plaza's Chili's restaurant makes more money than any other Chili's in the world!
It has the world's largest Romano's Macaroni Grill restaurant.
It was home to the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant in the Caribbean, which opened on August 28, 2013.
In November 2019, famous musician Daddy Yankee opened a museum about reggaeton music at Plaza Las Américas. It's the first museum of its kind!
Plaza Las Américas has a cool water fountain in the middle. The teen pop group Menudo even featured it in their music videos in the early 1980s. In 2018, it became a fun trend for Puerto Ricans to jump into this fountain, record it, and share the videos online!