In, and around the area where there was once a Macy’s store, Tucson Mall is working on plans to bring in three new restaurants, including a Cheesecake Factory and a Kona Grill, along with other new retailers.

Tami Ivy, senior marketing manager for General Growth Properties Tucson and Park Place malls, said it is the company’s policy not to comment on the new retailers.

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"We’re working with a lot of companies and we are excited to close the deals so we can announce them," Ivy said. "But there aren’t any signed leases yet to be able to announce any names."

A source with Cheesecake Factory acknowledge it doesn’t have a signed lease for a restaurant in Tucson Mall but said "we are very close" and further noted that the deal hinges on General Growth having the building up and opened in time for the 2008 holiday season.

General Growth is out in the commercial real estate marketplace with plans showing the Cheesecake Factory as a 10,000 square-foot stand-alone building located in what is now the parking lot outside the southeast entrance of the mall, closest to the intersection of Wetmore Road and Stone Avenue.

The development plans also show two other new stand-alone buildings. One is a 19,000 square-foot building that would be shared equally by Kona Grill and a restaurant named the Yard House, which claims to carry the world’s largest selection of draft beers. The third separate building houses an REI store in 15,000 square feet. REI sells outdoor gear and clothing, including skiing, snowboarding, cycling, kayaking, and climbing equipment.

Within the former Macy’s store, the plans show:

ân¶ 8,866 square-feet for a larger Forever 21 store.

ân¶ 3,848 square-feet for Bebe, the high- end women’s fashion boutique’s sec ond store in the market. It already has a store at La Encantada.

ân¶ 3,411 square-feet for Swoozie, a gift paper store.

ân¶ 3,404 square-feet for Metropark, a clothing and music retailer.

ân¶ 1,055 square-feet for Brighton, a col lectables gift shop.

Elsewhere in the mall, the plans call for an Abercrombie & Fitch store, which would be its second store in the market after one it already has at Park Place Mall, and a Barnes & Noble store.

Chicago-based General Growth Properties, which owns the mall at 4500 N. Oracle Road, acquired the 135,000 square-foot three story former Macy’s store its parent company merged with the May Co. and converted the Robinsons-May store into a Macy’s.

Ledcor Construction Inc., a British Columbia company with U.S. headquarters in San Diego, is coordinating the site preparation for the new tenants. The two-level Tucson Mall is the largest mall in Southern Arizona, with 1.3 million square feet. The mall underwent a major expansion in 1991 and renovation in 2003. The mall’s anchor stores are Dillard’s, J.C. Penney, Macy’s, Mervyn’s and Sears.