Nordstrom construction/Mindy Schauer
The Irvine Co. says it’s giving the Fashion Island mall a $100 million-plus makeover, raising dust at the shopping center through the fall of 2011.
Features will include new stores, new and refurbished courtyards and a shift in architectural styles to tie in with the Irvine Co.’s new Pelican Hill luxury resort in nearby Newport Coast. (Click on the artist’s renderings below to enlarge.)
“Retail is a very dynamic business, and if you don’t improve and if you don’t invest, you become obsolete,” said Keith Eyrick, president of the Irvine Co.’s Retail Properties division.
The timing of this face-lift comes as a number of chains are going broke and closing their stores at the mall. Eyrick said, however, that the Irvine Co. is going forward with the makeover, positioning the mall for the next turnaround.
“The life of this center will be long,” he said. “It’s got a big future ahead. We can’t be focused on this quarter or the next quarter.”
Highlights include:
- New stores: In addition to the previously announced opening of Nordstrom, Dean & DeLuca and Dick’s Sporting Goods, three other stores are coming to Fashion Island: Michael Stars, True Religion and 7 For All Mankind. (See OC Retail blog for more details on these six stores.)
- New restaurants, cafes and espresso bars.
- The new Atrium Court Garden: Adjacent to the Atrium Cafes and a new building housing two of the new stores (Dick’s Sporting Goods and Dean & DeLuca wine and food emporium), this will be a sunken outdoor dining patio with a 24-foot water wall for ambiance.
- Newly designed and landscaped Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s plaza.
- Redecorated paseos: The store-lined corridors criss-crossing the mall will be adorned with new brick pavers, old-fashioned street lamps and potted plants.
- New water features: One fountain will be removed to make room for the new Nordstrom espresso bar, but new water features will include a fountain in the Neiman Marcus-Bloomingdale’s Court with a 45-foot-tall granite obelisk and changing columns of water. (According to the Irvine Co.’s press package, the fountain was inspired by the Fountain of Four Rivers in Rome’s Piazza Navona.)
Orange County retail expert Greg Stoffel noted that malls throughout Orange County have been undergoing similar changes in recent years, either by completely transforming themselves (The Shops at Mission Viejo) or through cosmetic changes (like Westminster Mall).
“Customers change,” Stoffel said. “Shopping centers have to change, or they get left behind.”
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In other real commercial estate news …
There really are no stores worth shopping at within fashion island. Last time I went there was around 9 months ago and it was a ghost town then. Can’t imagine how bad it is now. Wait a minute, yes I can. And thinking about it makes me smile.
Mean spirited and tacky.
you mean there are no stores YOU can shop at, slug.
Mean spirited and tacky.
TheAllKnowing - thats right go back to Target and Kmart. You must be a dirty t-shirt 501 Levi wearing low-life.
Perhaps TAK doesn’t need rely on “designer” labels for self-confidence, in marked contrast to yourself.
I’ve got a lot more respect for someone that wears 501’s and knows the value of a dollar, than some idiot that buys “designer” t-shirts and denim using their credit cards and HELOC account, OCMax.
Who cares really? I love Target I don’t need to spend my money at the Fashion Island Mall. That place sucks anyways.
Fashion Island is busy as usual. Not sure what your talking about. Makes you smile? U sound like Greedy Lee….Pr$ck. How about posting your “predictions” so we can all get a laugh.
some more same shade of beige, is this the only color the irvine co. knows, what about some of the rich colors of the med coast that they said they want to bring to our coast
The color of everything is dictated by NGO’s like the Coastal Commission etc.
Another fine example from the Irvine Co. of:
‘how not to write a business plan’
just like the Resort at Pelican Hill
just like Shady Canyon
Um, they’re not spending 100 million dollars because they are unsuccessful. They have the money because of their success. Massive success. Everybody loves to bash The Irvine Company - in the end TIC wins.
Making upgrades when contractors are low-balling contracts just to get the work is very smart.
Success is relative. They are losing dollars just like everyone else. “They” have the money, you say. You mean Donald Bren has the money. TIC is a privately owned company and he’s the owner. No one is bashing TIC that I have read so far but youre defensive in advance of that. You also say ‘in the end TIC wins.” Wins what sammyj? No one has bashed TIC and no one has said anything bad about them. WHAT are you reading?
No one has bashed TIC??? My original reply was to a bash “another fine example from the Irvine Co. of: ‘how not to write a business plan.’ Then a quick scan up the page and I get “some more same shade of beige, is this the only color the irvine co. knows.”
They get bashed often.
Of course one man owns TIC, but it is a company of many and “they” all gain.
Yes, success is relative, but that one owner’s billions lend one to think of success. (Plus he’s never filed for bankruptcy like the NY based Donald).
Wins what? They win project approval, project sales, and more money in their pockets. And I congratulate them (or him) for their success - Go Capitalism!
They have the money because someone was willing to lend it. Mind-boggling, due to the PHR project has and continues to do some serious drainage.
You have no clue what you’re talking about. Like them or not, only an idiot or someone who knows zero about OC real estate would suggest that they’re not successful.
The mall is a beauty and quite unique already. One of the only remaining outdoor high end O.C. malls. $100M is some serious funds to get a return on. Is Fashion Island lossing some luster over South Coast? Time to put a shine on that Bently.
One hundred million plus for a makeover but they can’t afford the concert series that would bring many to Fashion Island. You figure it out. Keith Eynick, priesident of the Irvine Company’s Reetain Divison says, “Retail is a very dynamic business, and if you don’t improve and if you don’t invest, you become obsolete.” Goes on to say he’s not focusing on “this quarter or the next quarter ” That’s good because people just don’t have the money to spend this quarter or next quarter but might have enjoyed the concert series and immediately thought of a visit back to Fashion Island when they had something jingling in their pocket. Understand that Donald Bren doesn’t focus on this quarter or the next quarter either but on the bottom line.
They are facing competition from the upcoming “Pacific City” mall in Huntington Beach. This is supposed to be THE luxury mall/lifestyle center, featuring a 4/5 star hotel on the premises. If they don’t start the facelift now, it will be too late when Pacific City opens in a few years.
I had not heard anything about his yet. Where is it going to be located? Has construction began?
http://www.pacificcityhb.com
It’s been a whole in the ground for a few years now, slooowly rising (economy is slowing it down, developer’s pockets not as deep as The Irvine Co.).
It will not be THE luxury mall. It will be nice, but “luxury” retailers will not be leaving SCP or Fashion Island for this (most have non-compete clauses in their leases).
Apparently “W” hotels is in.
sorry “hole” not “whole”
The best Fashion Island was the original Fashion Island. It was diverse and affordable and not just a tourist attraction or a place for the snooty to walk their pedigree dogs.
I long for the day when I can shop at a store like Buffums and JC Penneys in one center with an ocean view.
Ha! It’s good to hear from another old school resident. That’s how I still orient myself around Fashion Island — over where Buffums used to be … over by Broadway, the old Mexican restaurant (El Toro?) where you had to choose your seating carefully lest you sit in bird poop, John Burns, over by the old Russos, Sweet Life and Als Garage, near the old See’s Candy and Children’s Bootery. I suppose being gone from the area from many years before returning has made these old landmarks so firm in my memory. Do you remember when they had a playground in the middle of the mall, next to Hickory Farms?
Sigh, I do agree that in striving to make Fashion Island too upscale, the Irvine Company is stealing from it’s quaintness. If wish they wouldn’t be striving so hard to remove the kid-friendly elements. To me, that is part of what it’s appeal has always been, what sets it apart from other malls, from where many of it’s future shoppers come.
Ohhh… I miss The Sweet Life!!!!
My mom used to take me to the Franciscan Room at the old Buffums when we did back to school shopping - great ocean views. And I loved the candy counter at JC Pennys. And I used to jump around on the “steps” in that big black and white checkerboard plaza outside of Pennys (probably from a sugar rush from the candy counter).
fencewalker and Jam, thanks for bringing up those great places, also the hot dog place and EL ROBERTOS which is where i worked at along with Karls Toy store, The bus dropped you off on the side where that French 75 restaurant is at. Good Times!!!
Malls are dead- this is a foolish investment.
It will still be nothing but a glorified dog run for the local money bags.
Bingo
Don’t forget the other ‘main’ attractions . .. .the food and stroller parades.
Retail transaction and avg per sale volumes downtrend will produce massive, reasonable-return headwinds on that 100m investment.
Why don’t you send a letter to Bren with all your astute suggestions? Maybe he’ll give you a job……………………………as the mall pooper-scooper! lllllloooooolllllll. Such incredible ignorance should not go unrewarded!!
LoL, I already have my own gig, but thanks for the thought.
VoiceofReason says:
June 26, 2009 at 9 amYou have no clue what you’re talking about. Like them or not, only an idiot or someone who knows zero about OC real estate would suggest that they’re not successful.
Hey goofball, you’re a fraud. You are no VoR. Where in any of my posts did I say TIC was “not successful” ?
I’m waiting. . . ..
Just as I thought . .. .dumb-dumb
We call it Fascist Island.
Good for the Irvine Co. I agree that you need to re-invest always. People love to shop and be entertained. You can’t just stay stagnant. 100 Million should help the local economy.
In the 70’s the highlight for us kids going to Fashion Island was seeing the huge fish and the water features. I also remember being fascinated with the water features at South Coast Plaza back then.
I am glad The Irvine Company is spending 100M. It is good for the economy, don’t bash them but rather thank them. Unfortunately the construction industry labor has a mostly been taken over by Mexicans. The companies are still owned by Americans but they employ Mexicans. I suspect that many of these Mexican employees have questionable legal documentation. I also suspect a fair percentage of this money will be sent to Mexico. What would really be nice is if The Irvine Company made their contractors comply with employment verification.
I’m just a teacher and can’t afford to shop there anymore, especially since I will be getting a paycut. Most people in OC do shop at Le Botique Target and Khols. We go at Christmas to see the big tree, people watch and eat at one of the cheaper places there. 95% of OC shop that way now, in this economy. The other 5%, you are actually quite fun to sit and watch!
Just a teacher who, if you are the average teacher in OC, makes $74,528 in base salary per year - http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pay-teachers-school-2353750-cut-teacher
Let’s cry you a river.
Come to think of it, all last year, I think I went there once.
Fashion Island is old money and I think will have a hard time capturing new money when it returns.
“new money”?? Don’t you mean credit card debt/HELOC drainage?
It’s not a island, they should change the name - “Fashion Island” - sooooo tacky.
We enjoy taking our son there to walk around, let him run on the grass a bit (watch out for poodle poop). There’s actually room to walk, unlike the narrow walkways of the Spectrum. Some of the artists and musicians set-up are very talented. I don’t think we ever buy anything more than a snack or soda, but then, we don’t have an active HELOC and spending savings on $300 jeans just isn’t our thing. I’m glad other people do, though, because it keeps the place looking nice.
“45-foot-tall granite obelisk”
Definitely a cell tower. Ah yes, sitting in the courtyard with radiation beaming through me…sounds relaxing.
Whether struggling in this economy or not, it sounds like a bunch of BITTER people to me…you all need an attitude adjustment!
I love fashion island. Very relaxing. Great coffee and ambiance. I take my 6 month old daughter there all the time. It’s a great place to take kids and just walk around, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to enjoy the place.
The peeps watching is phenomenal.
So Fashion Island is joining the ranks of shopping malls that are receiving “dramatic architectural enhancements.” Excuse me? Since when is “architectural enhancement” a substitute for architecture? Sounds more like “male enhancement.”
As a longtime resident, I have seen Southern California transformed from a diverse, ultra-modern and vital area to “period-style” monotony with uniform, boxlike buildings and palm trees. It almost doesn’t matter what anyone builds anymore. The result is cookie-cutter blandness and tackiness almost everywhere we look.
Southern California is awash in a sea of mediocrity. With few exceptions, no one seems to know how to design buildings today without copying the past. Tinker with the roof shape or façade, add “classical features” that border on clichés, and you have just created an “eclectic” style. What happened to honesty in design, structure, and use of materials?
At a time when corporate architecture is becoming more contemporary, cutting-edge, and high-tech, commercial and residential design are retreating to an idyllic past that never existed. Why?
We don’t live in medieval or turn-of-the-century villages anymore for a reason. This is the 21st Century. It is time to stop living in the past and take commercial architecture into the future.
What a waste of money… Spending 100 Million on refurbishing Fashion Island… Put the money somewhere else…
perhaps you could buy it and make that call…why would the IC listen to that advice?
Congratulations, TIC, you’ve just given me the most compelling reason to swiftly exit South Orange County after I graduate UCI and never look back.
Wow, amazing that a “mall renovation” has received such a varied response. You would think people were talking about a politcal election.
As a 40 year + resident of the area(not Newport) I have enjoyed visting and shopping at Fashion Island. I have shopped there when the majority of you never realized it existed, which was part of the pleasure: no crowds to deal with in the early years.
The facts are that people need to realize this is a business and mall decisions require the owners to evaluate how to maintain a profit. Personally I think it is a wise decision to invest in the mall and do some updating. I think consumers will like the changes, additions and upgrades that are planned. To make it like an “Italian village” has some appeal whether you drive a Kia or a Bentley.
As far as the comments that the mall is strictly for Newport Beach milliionaires, I think people are very misinformed. Sure you can buy a $2000 outfit at Neiman Marcus, but you can also go to Macy’s and get one for a very moderate sum. Or you can simply not purchase anything and enjoy the ambiance the mall affords everyone. I think several email contributors have the same perception of Fashion Island as people do of Orange County as a whole: conservative rich and snotty people.
I think the informed person knows we have a very diverse community with all races, colors, religions, economic levels and viewpoints.
My advice to all is not to be jealous of others, but to put that energy into working hard to become successful.
A point that I need to mention: You don’t have to spend a fortune to enjoy a good time at Fashion Island . Go to Francoli’s, order some wine and appetizers, sit outside and enjoy the diverse amount of people that walk by.
Give thanks that you live someplace that allows you to enjoy such a simple pleasure. Most of the world does not.
And save those nasty emails for the politicians.
Enjoy.
Yes, I know I incorrectly spelled a couple of words. Guess the eyes aren’t what they used to be. Hopefully my college English teacher is not reading this blog.
The Irvine Company had three (3) consecutive layoffs (one just before the holidays).
How can they justify this? Why not invest 99.5 million and keep long-term employee employed thu the holidays. What a discrace the company is. I will never shop at Fashion Island.