Meeting between Macerich, City and Community Group Could Signal Fresh Start for Mall Redevelopment

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

June 1 -- Some of Macerich’s top brass are flying into town Thursday to have separate sit downs with City officials and the residents’ group that helped block the company’s first proposed redesign of Santa Monica’s Downtown mall.

Described as a “meet and greet” by Macerich senior vice president Tracy Gotsis, the meetings will be an attempt to “reinvigorate community outreach” for the redevelopment of Santa Monica Place.

The plan has been on hold for nearly a year while Macerich officials sought to find a replacement for Robinsons-May, one of the mall’s two anchor stores.

Thursday’s meeting signals “a fresh start,” with Santa Monica officials and the community, said Gotsis, a member of Macerich’s marketing department based in Phoenix, Arizona, who will attend the meeting.

“We are basically going back to the drawing board,” she said.

While Gotsis said no formal proposals or plans will be discussed, officials with the City believe Macerich representatives – who called for the meetings – may be laying the groundwork for any future plans for the Robinson’s-May space vacated two months ago.

“I would say this clearly suggests this is their first step that they are wanting to do something” with the space at the mall, said Assistant City Manager Gordon Anderson.

“If they want discuss anything with the project, though, we are going to tell them their first stop must be with the community,” Anderson said

Leasing the Robinson’s-May space will be a critical step before Macerich can continue pursuing development options at Santa Monica Place, mall officials have said. So far the company has remained tightlipped about any possible replacements.

In early May, Macerich purchased 11 Robinson’s-May stores, including the space at Santa Monica Place, which will give the company more “flexibility” in choosing who moves into the space, said Gotsis.

In addition to meeting with City officials, Gotsis said she and other Macerich officials will sit down with members from the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (SMCLC), a diverse group of city residents and civic leaders that was formed to oppose Macerich’s original design of the mall.

Since Macerich unveiled a plan in November 2004 calling for three 21-story towers at the site anchoring the southern end of the Third Street Promenade, SMCLC has been battling mall and City officials to block the plan and force the release of details about the original proposal.

The rocky relations resulted in a lawsuit that gave the coalition access to documents its officials believe contain evidence that City staff worked with Macerich on the original design before community input was received. (See story)

The City Council rejected the original proposal, which in addition to the towers included an apartment complex, an office building and a park perched atop two floors of retail spaces.

The council instructed Macerich to start from scratch and gather more community input. In the midst of that outreach, Robinson’s May was sold, throwing the entire development process into a hiatus.

SMCLC co-chair, Diana Gordon, said the group is looking forward to meeting with Macerich officials. She added that the meeting indicates that the group is growing beyond its original goal of halting what it saw as a massive development of the mall.

“We want our role to expand beyond being a voice on Santa Monica Place’s development,” said Gordon. “Our goal is to be a moveon.org type group, who can reach every resident by email” or through the mail.

As to what will actually be discussed at the meetings, Assistant City Manager Anderson said, “We’ll just have to wait and find out.”