East Hills Shopping Center officials are closer to naming tenants and will be ready for the shopping season.

Rain in early September put a damper on outside work at the mall. “So we’re a little behind,” said Jim Harpool, of Harpool Morgan Haney, which is overseeing the project.

But sunny days are moving both inside and outside construction right along.

Mr. Harpool said that the north parking lot, near J.C. Penney, will be reopened on Saturday. He said crews will continue east, working on other exterior mall entrance projects. The outside portion of the entire mall renovation is expected to be completed by the end of October, according to Mr. Harpool.

A main entrance to the mall off of the Belt Highway will reopen next week. Construction will then close the Frederick Boulevard entrance for remodeling.

“The inside, we’re looking to open the food court and fashion row by the end of October,” he said. The new Sunporch Cafe is located over the former stage and fountain area and fashion row is the main corridor throughout the mall.

To date, Victoria’s Secret is the only new tenant to be named. Mr. Harpool said he is hopeful that tenant announcements could come next week. During the renovation process, several stores have been relocated and some have left entirely.

Mr. Harpool said that the Lifestyles South addition will be done in three weeks. The lifestyles corridor is one of two shopping areas that will have exterior entry to the stores. He said the Lifestyles North would not be completed until early December.

The new children’s play area, located in front of Sears and Dillards, will be finished by the Thanksgiving holiday.

The mall received tax-increment financing for about $30.8 million earlier this year. The new 1-cent sales tax at the mall will help pay off the TIF and generate another $15.6 million, according to the TIF plan’s projections.

That tax will be applied at all stores in the mall and at Carlos O’Kelly’s and Ground Round restaurants, plus any new restaurants built on the mall’s parking lot.

The overall $131 million budget includes the TIF and $15.6 million from the special sales tax — a total of­ $46.4 million in public incentives. The mall itself is contributing $31.4 million in construction cash, plus $40 million in value of the land and building. The stores within the mall are spending $13.1 million on renovations.

Jennifer Hall can be reached at jennhall@npgco.com.