Word. A sports arena needs to be downtown.

^Definitely.

Cool, it's finally open. What a great addition to the neighborhood.


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I know it's got nothing to do with downtown, but I'm just excited that H & M is finally coming!! :tup:



Fashion Valley Adds Unique Luxury Stores to Strengthen Position as San Diego County's High Fashion Leader

PR Newswire - Simon Announces CH Carolina Herrera, Tourneau, Hermes, Michael Kors and More -

September 19, 2007

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Simon Property Group, Inc. , the country's largest owner, developer and manager of high quality retail real estate, announced today a wave of exciting tenants, almost all of them completely new to San Diego County, that will be coming to Fashion Valley. These new retailers position Fashion Valley as the unquestioned home of luxury retail in San Diego.

Area residents and tourists will be able to shop at the following luxury retailers in 2008, all of whom have chosen Fashion Valley to open their first store in San Diego. These desirable locations include: Barney's New York COOP, CH Carolina Herrera, Hermes, Jimmy Choo, Just Cavalli, M Missoni, Michael Kors and Tourneau.

A great collection of trend leaders will also call Fashion Valley home in 2008. These stores include Anthropologie, H&M, Juicy Couture and True Religion.

"Today's announcement solidifies Fashion Valley's prominence in the San Diego market," said Gary Lewis, executive vice president of leasing at Simon. "We truly believe that the San Diego region need not be underserved in the luxury market, and the great retailers who will be here in 2008 are an ideal fit for our Fashion Valley customer who expects nothing less than extraordinary merchandise and service."

"I just adore Southern California. Fashion Valley is fantastic," said Carolina Herrera. "I love how you can walk around in the sun to see all the other great shops. I cannot wait to open my own CH Carolina Herrera boutique there." Fashion Valley's CH Carolina Herrera boutique, scheduled to open in October, will have a warm and inviting atmosphere that features women's and men's collections as well as an extensive accessory collection.

"We feel Fashion Valley is clearly the right entry point for Tourneau in the San Diego market and is positioned correctly and that the results of the center are spectacular," said Howard Levitt, president of Tourneau. Tourneau, the foremost designer of luxury watches, plans to open on December 1 with 1,752 square feet of retail space.

Fashion Valley is a 1.7 million square feet super-regional shopping center located in San Diego. Anchors include Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Macy's and JCPenney. Fashion Valley is one of only three venues in the world with the combination of Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's. Fashion Valley's 18 million annual shopper visits makes its following larger than the combined annual attendance of San Diego destinations such as Sea World, Legoland, San Diego Padres, San Diego Chargers, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, The San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park.

Simon Property Group, Inc. is an S&P 500 company and the largest public U.S. real estate company. Simon is a fully integrated real estate company which operates from five retail real estate platforms: regional malls, Premium Outlet Centers(R), The Mills(R), community/lifestyle centers and international properties. It currently owns or has an interest in 380 properties comprising 258 million square feet of gross leasable area in North America, Europe and Asia. The Company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and employs more than 5,000 people worldwide. Simon Property Group, Inc. is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol SPG. For further information, visit the Company's website at www.simon.com.

Fashion Valley is becoming too upscale for me.


But, they still have sweet hat kiosks. :)

[QUOTE=sandiego_urban;3064511]Cool, it's finally open. What a great addition to the neighborhood.


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I know it's got nothing to do with downtown, but I'm just excited that H & M is finally coming!! :tup:



Fashion Valley Adds Unique Luxury Stores to Strengthen Position as San Diego County's High Fashion Leader

PR Newswire - Simon Announces CH Carolina Herrera, Tourneau, Hermes, Michael Kors and More -

September 19, 2007

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Simon Property Group, Inc. , the country's largest owner, developer and manager of high quality retail real estate, announced today a wave of exciting tenants, almost all of them completely new to San Diego County, that will be coming to Fashion Valley. These new retailers position Fashion Valley as the unquestioned home of luxury retail in San Diego.

Area residents and tourists will be able to shop at the following luxury retailers in 2008, all of whom have chosen Fashion Valley to open their first store in San Diego. These desirable locations include: Barney's New York COOP, CH Carolina Herrera, Hermes, Jimmy Choo, Just Cavalli, M Missoni, Michael Kors and Tourneau.

A great collection of trend leaders will also call Fashion Valley home in 2008. These stores include Anthropologie, H&M, Juicy Couture and True Religion.

"Today's announcement solidifies Fashion Valley's prominence in the San Diego market," said Gary Lewis, executive vice president of leasing at Simon. "We truly believe that the San Diego region need not be underserved in the luxury market, and the great retailers who will be here in 2008 are an ideal fit for our Fashion Valley customer who expects nothing less than extraordinary merchandise and service."QUOTE]

This is kind of a bummer. I was hoping that there would be more Flagships opening up in downtown. Unfortunately, developers/brokers didn't have the foresight to entice these retailers into downtown, thus continuing the building boom.

No developers other than JMI understand that to succeed long term, one needs to take risk. JMI took an enourmous risk in developing the ballpark, and they have reaped tremendous benifits. Residential developers were merely riding the wave, not investing anything in the retail portion (leasing at lower rates) to help themselves with continued sales.

We may see some high end around NBC. As for the ground level in the rest of downtown, the upside is that on average, it takes till the third lessee (in a redevelopment area/urban creative class type of neighborhood) to establish a permanent and successful retail location. Though disappointing for now, I wouldnt have expected anything substantive, and especially on a flagship level, immediately out of the gates for most locations. The exceptions are the Cafe Chloe's and 222's of the hood.

Let's just wait and see what happens when Westfield announces their renovation plans for Horton Plaza. I'm sure when they turn it "inside out", we'll be seeing a whole new tenant mix there. As ShekelPop said, NBC has potential to draw some big retail names when it's completed. But first and foremost, we should be more concerned about the existing retail space there is now.


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On the subject of malls, I don't think I ever read any discussion here about Westfield's plans to build 4 high rise towers, as part of UTC's massive expansion plans that were announced last month. Of course the NIMBY's will have a field day with this one.

In case you missed the article:



Planned Expansion of UTC Could Cause Serious Concerns

City analysis lists potential impacts

By Chet Barfield
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

August 13, 2007

SAN DIEGO – A plan to nearly double the size of the University Towne Centre mall while adding offices, hotel rooms and residential units would generate nearly 18,000 additional vehicle-trips a day and pose other serious environmental concerns, according to a report issued last week.

The 650-page analysis by the city's Development Services Department found that even if four proposed 30-story towers were eliminated from the $900 million project, “significant and unmitigable impacts associated with traffic, air quality and solid waste would still occur.”

Westfield America wants to add 750,000 square feet of retail space to the University City mall, which opened in 1977 and was expanded in 1984 to just over 1 million square feet.

The company also wants to erect four buildings of 325 feet to 390 feet for up to 35,000 square feet of office suites, 250 hotel rooms and 725 apartments or condominiums. Those proposals would require zoning changes and master-plan amendments to the site's current height limit of 60 feet.

A Westfield senior vice president, Jonathan Bradhurst, said the plan to build upward is “creating great live, work and play environments” on what is now “an ocean of asphalt” parking lot.”

But a University City-based environmental group, Friends of Rose Canyon, is opposing the height variances, traffic impacts and overall scope of the proposed expansion.

“It's way out of scale,” the group's president, Deborah Knight, said of the proposed project. “It basicly busts the community plan wide open . . . and that sets a precedent.”

Westfield proposes to lessen traffic impacts by paying for added lanes and improvements on La Jolla Village Drive and surrounding streets, as well as widening nearby Interstate 805 offramps.

Most of the air-quality impacts cited in the report related to dust from construction. Westfield hopes to start building next year, keeping the mall open while sections are being renovated. After a final environmental report, the project would require approval from planning commissioners and the City Council.

In other environmental concerns, the draft report found the project would generate up to 358,000 gallons of sewage per day and that Westfield would have to pay for system upgrades. It would also send up to 2,578 tons of solid waste a year to the landfill.

The proposed project would use up to 281,000 gallons of water per day, three times the mall's current usage of about 89,000 gallons, the report said.

Westfield's plans include a $25 million transit station, providing access to express buses and possible future light-rail service to the area. Development Services Director Marcela Escobar-Eck said such mass-transit amenities would help offset the traffic impacts.

The report can be reviewed at the development services office and branch libraries in Clairemont and University City. Comments will be accepted through Sept. 24 and should be sent to Martha Blake, senior planner, City of San Diego Development Services Center, 1222 First Ave. MS 501, San Diego, CA 92101.

Additional information can be obtained by calling (619) 446-5000.

Go UTC! :)

Go to Washington DC's U Street or 14th Street. Look at San Francisco's SOMA / Ballpark area. These places opted to place the retail right away (not sure if it was subsidized) and it helped to move the neighborhood along more quickly.

From today's Daily Business Journal:

I believe this is the CCDC project website: http://www.ccdc.com/index.cfm?fuseac...propertyID=614

And image:

http://www.ccdc.com/images/propertyI...0%20%20C17.jpg

[QUOTE=sandiego_urban;3066705]Let's just wait and see what happens when Westfield announces their renovation plans for Horton Plaza. I'm sure when they turn it "inside out", we'll be seeing a whole new tenant mix there. As ShekelPop said, NBC has potential to draw some big retail names when it's completed. But first and foremost, we should be more concerned about the existing retail space there is now QUOTE]

Sounds great, but are there actually any realistic plans being discussed to turn Horton "inside-out"???? I didn't know Westfield was planning on rennovating it.

I used to cringe whenever I saw Westfield signs on every mall, it was like the "Wal-Martization" of malls - - the big companies swoop in and everything becomes just like everything else taking away all character. I guess the upside of a huge corporation like Westfield is they do have the money to accomplish mass-rennovation

I was in UTC the other day and saw they were building a Crate and Barrel, not one of the little ones we see at Fashion Valley and UTC malls, but a seperate building on the northeast side of the parking lot that looks like it will be the size of a department store!!

Ten fifty B
 

^^ the ten fifty B rendering looks decent and we need affordable housing downtown, I hope the project proceeds

That is what's so depressing about Horton Plaza. I have a feeling if we didn't have so much retail confined behind the walls of a hideous-looking 80s style mall in the middle of downtown, alot of those retail stores would be more dispersed throughout the gaslamp and east village, filling up some of the vacant space we have around dt :hell:

^^ I really like that building and think it's on a spot that's really going to help fill out downtown while at the same time taking some of the edge off of the massive Vantage Pointe building.

Looks like an excellent project. I would love to see this one go through.:tup:

Keep in mind that Horton Plaza was built during a time when downtown was a relatively dangerous place to be in. Stores needed to be in a "fortress," and the mall was constructed accordingly, away from the streets. Of course, circumstances have changed, and perhaps that a good enough reason to call for a redesign of the mall. However, I don't think we should be too quick to condemn Horton Plaza as it is now; it has served its purpose well.

Without a doubt. Horton Plaza was one of the main reasons for downtown's rebirth. I do hope the mall can eventually be reconfigured to blend in better with the surrounding city...pedestrian-only streets running through, stores on the exterior with residential, hotels, and/or offices above.

I'm picturing something like Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.

Speaking about Horton Plaza...

what's up with the HIDEOUS orange paint job on the balboa theater?

God damn Chargers....