The Galleria was originally the Sunrise Center, an open-air shopping mall constructed in 1954, but was demolished except for the Jordan Marsh store (reopened as South Florida's first Dillard's, followed by Pembroke Lakes Mall in 1995 and The Mall at Wellington Green in 2001), and rebuilt as an enclosed mall.[1] The Galleria opened in three phases, initially on November 11, 1980, with Burdines (now Macy's) and Saks Fifth Avenue (mostly now H&M and IWG), second in 1982 featuring Neiman Marcus (which closed in 2020 following an announcement on July 23[2][3]) and lastly in 1983 with Lord & Taylor (partially now Powerhouse Gym).[4]
The Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System pension fund bought the mall in 1993 for $125 million.[5]
From 2001 to 2003, $44 million was spent on renovations that included bringing in palm trees, opening windows and adding tri-color floor tiles.[5]
In 2014, redevelopment of the area around The Galleria was proposed, with 1,600 condos and 150 hotel rooms.[6] The redevelopment never materialized due to community opposition.[5][7]
In 2018, an aquarium was proposed for the space previously occupied by Lord & Taylor. Aquarium operator SeaQuest proposed adding 1,200 marine animals, including sharks and stingrays to the space. The plan never materialized.[5]