Council approved plans for the District at Myrtle Beach Tuesday.

A developer wants to re-design the existing Myrtle Beach Mall to allow for more open space.

The plans also include an area for shops, restaurants and a hotel along the Intracoastal Waterway.

The new development called “The District” will take advantage of existing stores while adding more modern options to the area. 

Shoppers say the 32-year-mall could use a facelift. “Looking around, it doesn’t look like there’s a lot going on,” shopper Bud Hare said. “Looks like, you know, kind of things are shutting down.”

$15 million in new retail and restaurant space is planned to go in next to existing anchors such as Belk, J.C. Penny, and Bass Pro Shops. 

Divaris Real Estate, Inc. out of Virginia wants the district to really take advantage of the Intracoastal Waterway. 

“The Waterway here in the Grand Strand area has been under-used for lack of a better word,” Michael King, CEO of KingOne Properties International said. 

Current plans call for multiple waterfront restaurants and a boardwalk with a lighthouse and gazebo on the water. Drawings also include a promenade and garden in the middle of the new retail space. 

“It’s nice to have a so-called Market Common that we have here on the Intracoastal Waterway,” King said. 

The leases are being worked out now, but specific tenants are yet to be announced. 

“I do know that we’ll be very excited about the nationals that’ll be coming in here,” King said.