After a very long gestation, the redo of Frank Gehry's Santa Monica Place mall is set to open in August. Sister Racked LA has been on the story and now the Los Angeles Business Journal provides a rundown of the complicated path to completion (construction started in April 2008), which coincided with the economy combusting. That was after locals and officials nixed the first two plans for an overhaul of the 1980 enclosed mall, both of which included mixed-use components and towers that were viewed as too dense.
The third option of an outdoor, three-level mall was ultimately chosen and actually reduced the footprint of Gehry's mall by 20,000 square feet. Mall owners Macherich Co. hired Venice architectural firm Jerde Partnership for the design, which is supposedly amenable to pedestrians on the 3rd Street Promenade strolling directly over to the mall. Marketing will soon start in earnest, and Macherich chief executive Art Coppola is feeling bullish, especially since most of the retail spaces are already leased: “We think it will be one of the great centers in the United States,” Coppola told the LABJ. “And one of the most exciting centers that will open for a several-year period.”
· The End Is Near [LABJ]
· Ball-Nogues Bringing Many Balls to Santa Monica Place [Curbed LA]
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