Mall Officials Scrap Redevelopment Plan

By Jorge Casuso

June 2 -- An ambitious plan to tear down and redevelop Santa Monica Place has been scrapped after more than four years in the works, the mall’s owners told City officials Thursday.

Instead, the Macerich Company will propose an “adaptive reuse” that would likely reconfigure the more than half a million square-foot indoor mall in Downtown Santa Monica with little or no additions, City officials said after meeting with the mall’s owners.

“Basically all they said to us is that… they’re taking what’s in place and modifying it,” said Assistant City Manager Gordon Anderson, the City’s top official in charge of the project.

“They indicated they would be bringing what they learned at the community workshops," he said, referring to a series of workshops sponsored by Macerich and the City to gather community input for the mall's redevelopment. (see story)

In an adaptive reuse “you don’t add much space,” Anderson said. “You just take what’s there and reconfigure.”

This is not the first time Macerich scales back plans to redevelop the struggling indoor mall after the City Council gave the company the go-ahead in June 2002 to add between 150 and 450 housing units, increase parking and add as many as 100,000 square feet of office space. (see story)

In March 2003, Macerich officials told the Bayside District board, which runs the Downtown, that the 2002 plan to tear down most of Santa Monica Place and extend the Promenade an extra block had been scrapped because it would be far too costly.

Instead, mall officials said they were developing a proposal to open up the indoor mall by tearing out the front entrance, as well as the second level up front, and move the ground-level food court to the third floor patio overlooking the ocean. (see story)

But models of the proposed rehab project were never presented and the plan soon faded, replaced by an ambitious proposal unveiled to the Bayside Board in November 2004 that included three 21-story condo towers, an apartment building, an office complex and a park above a podium of stores. (see story)

The plan -- which spurred instant and vocal opposition from top civic leaders -- was rejected in January 2005 by the City Council, which directed Macerich to start from scratch and gather public input before hammering out a new proposal. (see story)

But the public outreach was halted last August after gathering input from more than 3,000 residents, when Federated Department Stores Inc. announced it would close Robinsons-May, one of the mall’s two anchor stores. (see story)

The plan remained on hold when, early last month, Macerich purchased 11 Robinsons-May stores, including the 131,000-square-foot space at Santa Monica Place, giving the company more “flexibility” in choosing a tenant, Macerich officials said.

The City announced Macerich’s latest decision in an information item released to the community Thursday.

“Since the Federated announcement, the Macerich Company has re-evaluated their plans for Santa Monica Place,” Anderson wrote.

“As a result of the difficult hurdle of a comprehensive redevelopment of Santa Monica Place that is both financially feasible and able to achieve community acceptance, Macerich has informed City Staff that they are now considering options that involve a more modest rehabilitation,” Anderson wrote.

“Depending on the scope of the proposed remodeling, the project would go through the appropriate City discretionary and architectural reviews,” Anderson said. “Outreach to the community will be the first step and will be an ongoing part of the planning.”

After meeting with City officials, the mall’s owners met in private with members from the Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (SMCLC), a diverse group of local residents and civic leaders that opposed Macerich’s redevelopment plan.