Arlen began by developing suburban shopping centers throughout the United States, and in 1971, it acquired discount retail chain E.J.
By 1975, Arlen owned and managed over 42 million square feet of shopping centers, and controlled over $1.7 billion of US real estate assets.
This concept was developed by Julius Krasnove a Vice President of construction at the time and was designed by the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, who also designed the Willis Tower and John Hancock Center in Chicago, as well as many other high-rise buildings in the U.S. and worldwide.
In 2012, an Oxford Properties partnership purchased a minority interest in the buildings retail that valued it at over $1 billion.
[5] Donald Soffer owned the property where Aventura, Florida is currently located and wanted to create a project on it called Biscayne Village.
[8] Charles Lebovitz, the founder and current chairman of CBL Properties, served as president of Arlen Shopping Center Group throughout the 1970s.