At the end of the promenade once stood a dilapidated mall called the Santa Monica Place that originally was opened in 1980, during the large indoor mall boom that this country went through. Although it was designed by one of my favorite architects, Santa Monica's own Frank Gehry, and had also been in several films including the Terminator and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the mall had seen better days. It became a relic of the 80's with the subpar chain retail stores and greasy food court eateries. The malls of the 80's and early 90's are no longer desirable places to shop, especially in Southern California where the weather is too nice to spend a full day of shopping indoors. The only time I would go there was to shop at Macy's but the rest of the mall was very quiet and kind of eery.
Macerich, a REIT (I work for a REIT as well) based out of Santa Monica purchased and has completely gutted Santa Monica place and is putting in more of an open air shopping center with outdoor dining terraces and high end retail stores.
From Macerichs website: The retail attractions of Santa Monica Place include a new Bloomingdale’s and a new Nordstrom plus a growing roster of specialty stores: Burberry, Kitson, Nike, CB2, Tory Burch, Juicy Couture, Hugo Boss, Michael Kors, Ted Baker, AllSaints Spitalfields, 7 For All Mankind, BCBGMAXAZRIA, Coach, Ed Hardy, True Religion, Joe’s Jeans, Swarovski, Ben Bridge Jeweler, Angl, Bernini, Charles David, Parc 81 (formerly Michael Brandon), East 5th Hub (formerly ROC/Republic of Couture), Eva Varro and Solstice Sunglass Boutique. Newly signed for the property are, on the first level, Betsey Johnson, Barneys Co-Op, Johnny Was, Pandora, L'Occitane, White House Black Market and Bird Pick Tea & Herb; and on the second level, Chilli Beans, Tous, Foreign Exchange, Kensington Luggage, Sea of Silver, and GNC. As well, Love Culture will open a larger, 10,069-square foot store rather than the 7,500-square foot space originally planned.
The rooftop Dining Deck will offer ocean and city views and a carefully selected set of chef-driven restaurants and quick-casual dining options. Already announced restaurants include two concepts from nationally recognized restaurateur Richard Sandoval, Zengo and La Sandia, plus Pizza Antica, Ozumo Sushi, and XINO Restaurant + Lounge.
I think this will be a great extension of the Third Street Promenade, whose retail stores are more aimed towards tourists. It will be nice to not have to drive to Century City or South Coast Plaza to get some nice shopping in. I am sure traffic will be worse now, but at least we are walking distance to the Santa Monica place.
1 comment:
New mall is a huge disappointment. Santa Monica used to be a soulful, laid back spot until everything started catering solely to the tourist economy. The original Santa Monica Place was actually fine the way it was - a mix of well known retailers like Nordstrom and Macy's and the Body Shop, as well as a bunch of little indy stores that you could only find at this mall. There was also a wonderful community feel to this mall that has totally been gutted, along with Santa Monica Place, to make way for the UBER,
Tiffany laden monstrosity it has now become. This is not progress, there's absolutely no sense of community or anything representing humanity - just a playground for the rich and clueless - and they already have Century City. Huge disappointment!
Post a Comment