The company started in 1967 as the Western Development Corporation, and its first mall was Potomac Mills in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area in 1985.
The success of Madrid Xanadú prompted The Mills to embark on the $1 billion+ Meadowlands Xanadu complex in 2004, which was first planned as "Meadowlands Mills," but the project has caused numerous delays and costed the company financially.