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Santa Monica Place

Coordinates: 34°00′49″N 118°29′37″W / 34.013621°N 118.493726°W / 34.013621; -118.493726
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Santa Monica Place
Santa Monica Place seen at dusk in March 2013
Map
LocationSanta Monica, California, U.S.
Coordinates34°00′49″N 118°29′37″W / 34.013621°N 118.493726°W / 34.013621; -118.493726
Opening date1980; 44 years ago (1980) (as original indoor mall)
August 6, 2010; 14 years ago (August 6, 2010) (as current outdoor mall)
DeveloperThe Hahn Company and The Rouse Company
ManagementMacerich
OwnerMacerich
ArchitectFrank Gehry (1980)
Jon Jerde (2010)
No. of stores and services90
No. of anchor tenants1
Total retail floor area475,000 sq ft (44,100 m2)[1]
No. of floors3
ParkingStructured
Websitesantamonicaplace.com

Santa Monica Place is an outdoor shopping mall in Santa Monica, California. The mall is located at the south end of Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade shopping district, two blocks from the beach and Santa Monica Pier. The mall originally opened in 1980 as an indoor mall, and underwent a massive, three-year reconstruction process beginning in January 2008 and re-opened as an outdoor shopping mall on August 6, 2010.[2][3] The mall spans three levels. The mall also features the traditional retailer Nordstrom. The mall's tenant mix is predominantly upscale, featuring Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, Tory Burch, Elie Tahari, and AllSaints.

History

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Santa Monica Place originally opened as an indoor mall in 1980 at the apex of Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade, developed jointly by The Rouse Company and The Hahn Company. Originally anchored by J. W. Robinson's and The Broadway, it featured 120 shops, restaurants and a food court, spanning three levels. The mall was meant to inject vitality into the then-struggling Third Street Promenade but it only took away more customers from the street. [4]

Notably, Santa Monica Place was one of the first works of architect Frank Gehry and his first shopping mall, after being rejected from designing The Mall in Columbia in Columbia, Maryland, early in his professional career with Gruen Associates.[5] In the 1990s, both anchor stores changed names. In 1993, the Robinson's store rebranded as Robinsons-May while The Broadway store rebranded as Macy's in 1996.

Macerich purchased Santa Monica Place from Rouse in 1999, and rumors of major changes to the then-flailing shopping center were reported.[6] In 2004, the company proposed tearing down the mall and replacing it with a 10-acre (40,000 m2) complex of high-rise condos, shops and offices.[7] 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 2006, Robinsons-May closed as a result of Federated buying out May Department Stores in 2005. The store was replaced by Steve & Barry's in 2007.[8] In a second 2007 proposal, Macerich significantly scaled back its plans, which was received as positive by the public, and was passed.[9]

The original indoor mall designed by Frank Gehry.

The $265 million project[10] removed the mall's roof and gutted the interior, replacing it with two levels of retail shops and a third-level food court. At the same time, Kevin Kennon Architects converted the original Macy's into a Bloomingdale's while the Steve & Barry's was replaced with a Nordstrom. Dallas-based Omniplan served as the executive architects in association with The Jerde Partnership who served as the design architects.[11] The architect for the redesign was Jon Jerde. It was his last major work before his death in 2015.[12] The mall reopened on August 6, 2010.[13]

On November 15, 2015 an Arclight Cinemas multiplex opened in a new structure atop the Bloomingdale's anchor store.[14]

On January 6, 2021, Bloomingdale's announced that they would close their anchor store.[15] Its final day of operation was March 28, 2021.[16] On April 12, 2021, ArcLight Cinemas, located atop the Bloomingdale's anchor store, and temporarily shuttered since March 17, 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, had its lease terminated for non-payment of rent.[17][18] In 2023, it was announced that the structure containing Bloomingdale's and the ArcLight Cinemas would be renovated as a 48,000-square-foot flagship outpost for Arte Museum, an immersive digital media destination planned and produced by D’strict, a digital design company based in Seoul, South Korea. Macerich, the mall development corporation, announced that the remaining space in the structure would possibly house a high-end fitness facility. [19]

Public transit access

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The Los Angeles Metro Rail E Line's Downtown Santa Monica station is located across the street from the former Bloomingdale's.[20] In addition, many Santa Monica Big Blue Bus routes serve the mall.

References

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  1. ^ "Santa Monica Place" (PDF). assets2.macerichepicenter.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2015.
  2. ^ Groves, Martha (2008-01-31). "Aging mall to close for renewal". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  3. ^ Chang, Andrea (2010-08-07). "Shoppers swarm remodeled Santa Monica Place mall". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  4. ^ Pojani, Dorina (2008). "Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade: the failure and resurgence of a downtown pedestrian mall". Urban Design International. 13 (3): 141–155. doi:10.1057/udi.2008.8. S2CID 108994768.
  5. ^ "Gehry's Santa Monica Place gets a wave of changes". Building Design + Construction.
  6. ^ "Santa Monica Place ready for a major redo?". National Real Estate Investor. October 1, 2002.
  7. ^ Groves, Martha (March 5, 2007). "Hopes high for low-profile mall". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ "Just Gimme a Shimmy". Los Angeles Times. 23 September 2007.
  9. ^ "Sweeping Santa Monica Plan Scrapped". Los Angeles Times. June 4, 2006.
  10. ^ "Santa Monica Place set to reopen as upscale outdoor shopping venue". Los Angeles Times. 30 July 2010.
  11. ^ Gluck, Marissa (August 6, 2010). "Santa Monica Place Swaps Gehry for Airy". The Architect's Newspaper.
  12. ^ "Jon Jerde Obituary - Los Angeles, CA". Los Angeles Times – via legacy.com.
  13. ^ "Shoppers swarm remodeled Santa Monica Place mall". Los Angeles Times. 7 August 2010.
  14. ^ "New ArcLight Cinemas Now Open at Macerich's Santa Monica Place".
  15. ^ "Macy's is closing dozens of stores this year. Here's the full list". CNBC. January 6, 2021.
  16. ^ "Bloomingdale's Closing its Doors in Santa Monica Place This Sunday".
  17. ^ "Santa Monica ArcLight Cinemas Faces Lawsuit, Eviction for Back Rent". 2 May 2021.
  18. ^ "After ArcLight Cinemas' closure, what happens next?". Los Angeles Times. 16 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Immersive Art for Santa Monica". 30 January 2023.
  20. ^ "Expo Line:Phase 2:Overview". Buildexpo.org. Archived from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
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