If you're looking to shop in style, soon you won't have to go further than the Augusta Mall.

Community leaders and the mall's parent company, General Growth Properties, hosted a ground-breaking ceremony this morning.

More than 180-thousand square feet of new retail will open in the mall next fall.

Management wanted to introduce a village-setting to the mall and bring more specialty stores to the area.

They said it was easy to get retailers to say "yes."

"We didn't have to sell Augusta," said Dan Pascale of General Growth Properties. "They knew it was a strong market and they knew there was a demand for that type of retailer."

"We're going to do all that we can on our end as a government body to make sure they get everything they need to perform and get this building up as soon as possible," said District 2 Commissioner Marion Williams.

Williams says that Augusta's government will work with the mall to deal with any issues that come up as a result of the expansion, including traffic problems.