Santa Monica Place

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main entrance, facing Third Street Promenade, circa mid-2000s

Santa Monica Place was a three-story, 570,000-square-foot (53,000 m²) shopping mall in Santa Monica, California. The mall is located at the south end of the famousThird Street Promenade, and is also two blocks from the Santa Monica Pier and the beach. The mall is closed currently and is in the process of a major redevelopment with the new complex set to open in August 6, 2010.

Santa Monica Place opened in 1980 adjacent to the old Third Street Mall and was renovated in 1991 and again in 1996. The complex features 120 shops, the largest of which is Macy's. It is 152,000 sq ft (14,100 m²). on three levels. The mall featured aRobinsons May department store, but due to the merger between Federated/May Co., it was closed in 2006. It was 131,250 sq ft (12,194 m²). on three levels. The mall featured some upscale brands such as Kenneth Cole and Williams-Sonoma.

Santa Monica Place was designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry early in his professional career with Gruen Associates, constructed in 1980, and renovated in 1990. It has served as a backdrop for several films and television shows, most notably the exterior of the Ridgemont Mall in Fast Times at Ridgemont High; it has also been used in Pretty in Pink as well as Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Beverly Hills, 90210, and in the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

Interior, main court, circa mid-2000s

Redevelopment

Developer, The Macerich Company, purchased the mall in 1999 and in 2004 proposed tearing down the mall and replacing it with a 10-acre (40,000 m²) complex of high-rise condos, shops and offices. The plan met with strong opposition from local residents who felt the project did not meet the low-rise character of the neighborhood and would worsen traffic. In a second 2007 proposal, Macerich significantly scaled back its plans, which was received as positive by the public, and was passed. The project involves removing the mall's roof, gutting out the interior, create public walkways, an indoor/outdoor dining deck, and other adaptive reuse measures. The two anchor department stores have also been converted, with Macy's rebuilt as Bloomingdale's andRobinson's-May turned into a Nordstrom. The grand reopening is scheduled for August 6, 2010.

]

References

1. ^ Martha Groves, Hopes high for low-profile mall, Los Angeles Times, March 5, 2007.