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Shopping Centers Today -> September 2002
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COMPLETION NEARS ON PASADENA RETAIL LANDMARK
By Debra Hazel
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| The Shops’ architecture is sympathetic with a 55-year-old art deco Macy’s store. |
It’s not easy redeveloping around a landmark, as anyone familiar with South Lake Avenue in Pasadena, Calif., knows. Yet after several years and more than one developer, construction is finally under way on The Shops on South Lake Avenue. When the project opens in November, it will add 136,000 square feet of specialty retail around a 295,000-square-foot, 55-year-old art deco Macy’s — the youngest building in the United States to be awarded historic landmark status.
Yet that doesn’t mean there’s anything easy, even now, for Providence, R.I.-based developer Starwood Wasserman.
Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises previously had the rights to develop the 21-acre property on which Macy’s stands, on South Lake Avenue between Del Mar Boulevard and San Pasqual Street. But the community was up in arms about the company’s plans for a more traditional regional mall environment, including a multiplex cinema.
“There were a number of entitlement issues, and it wasn’t getting done,” said David Wasserman, a Starwood managing director.
Pasadena Heritage, a private, nonprofit foundation dedicated to protecting the city’s cultural and architectural heritage, filed suit against the original plans, according to Sue Mossman, the group’s executive director. “The neighbors fought it tooth and nail,” she said.
The chief objection was to the proposed cinema, which the community feared would destroy traffic patterns for both the commercial district and the very tony residential community nearby.
“The plans for a cinema were an absolute no-no,” Wasserman said.
Lengthy negotiations led to Forest City’s reconfiguring the project and eliminating the cinema, and the lawsuit was dropped. By then, however, the company was busy with other projects and opted to bring in Starwood Wasserman to complete the Shops. Forest City had worked successfully with Starwood Wasserman in the past, and bringing the smaller firm in as a partner would allow the project to be completed on time, fulfilling development promises to the city. So, in early 2000 Starwood Wasserman acquired the development rights to the Shops, with Forest City retaining a small financial interest.
Pasadena is not an easy environment for any developer, noted Greg Rickard, senior vice president and district manager at the Los Angeles office of Cleveland-based Key Commercial Real Estate, a financial company that invests in centers in the region but is not connected with the Shops.
“It is one of the more historic areas, and a lot of old money is there,” Rickard said. But “it is a killer location for providing retail — it’s high-visibility and high-traffic.”
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Besides opposing the movie theater, the community was protective of the Macy’s building, which, as Bullock’s, had been one of the first department stores to locate in suburban markets. The building’s now-defunct tearoom was for decades a popular venue.
“The store is filled with rare woods and elegant light fixtures, but it was neglected,” said Mossman. “It was an institution.”
Construction began on the $32 million project in June 2001.
The two-level center will feature a mix of food and specialty retail, including Children’s Place, Coldwater Creek, Corner Bakery, Linens ’n Things, Orvis, Peninsula Luggage, Talbots, Talbots Kids and Trader Joe’s. Three restaurants will total about 27,000 square feet of the project’s 136,000 square feet.
Given that homes within walking distance of the center are in the $1 million-plus range, the mix is designed to appeal to an affluent community.
“The customer is carriage trade: the San Marino, affluent Pasadena customer,” Wasserman said.
About 4.3 million people live within a 15-mile radius, with an average household income of $120,000 in Pasadena and $184,000 in San Marino. Yet, the developer says, the demographics belie the community’s actual income, because the trade area includes the students of nearby California Institute of Technology, who generally don’t have much in the way of earnings. Remove them from the mix, and the numbers likely would be far higher.
Creating a two-level open-air project doesn’t daunt Wasserman, despite the history of trouble with such centers. Escalators will allow easy access to the second floor.
“Because of the escalators, and Macy’s being a two-level store, the project will work,” he said.
The center has in fact been leased from the top down. Linens ’n Things, on the second level, was originally contracted by Forest City. Other upper-floor tenants include Trader Joe’s, Organized Living and health food restaurant Real Food Daily. On the street level, one building will accommodate Orvis, Corner Bakery and three other tenants to be announced on South Lake Avenue. That building then curves around the Macy’s facility, creating a landscaped street between the two. Other small stores will be located in front of and alongside Macy’s, forming a street scene that blends with such existing South Lake Avenue retailers as Ann Taylor, Express, Pier 1 Imports, Ross and Strouds. A Borders bookstore, built inside a former I. Magnin store, will also serve as a draw.
The project’s architectural team is MDA Johnson Favaro, Culver City, Calif., in association with Architects Orange, Newport Beach, Calif. The Shops’ design pays homage to the Macy’s architecture, featuring stone paving and other building materials found in the area.
The center will consist of two two-story structures and a 6,000-square-foot, one-story building, with a three-level parking deck around the back accommodating 300 of a total 1,200 spaces.
A city requirement for a public art space will be fulfilled through a permanent exhibition of works by up-and-coming artists and several frequently changing displays that will be part of a community outreach program still being planned. Wasserman is working with former Andy Warhol associate Jane Holzer to coordinate both exhibits. In addition, sculpture and photography will be featured throughout the winding common area.
Despite the approvals and the many changes to the original plans, Pasadena Heritage is still keeping a watchful eye on the project.
“The community is counting on the developer producing what’s been promised,” Mossman said. “Shopping center developers and retailers are focused on the moment, and what is trendy today probably should be that focus. But it can bump up against a community with architectural excellence, with a strong sense of community.”
Mossman expressed considerable frustration with Macy’s officials, whom she said have yet to detail their own interior renovation plans for the department store. Macy’s declined to comment for this story.
“The developer finally hired a very creative architectural team that designed a project that highlighted that unusual modern building [Macy’s],” Mossman said. “Everyone is trying to be flexible, to work with each tenant. But the idea is to keep this a carefully controlled environment.” No problem, affirms Wasserman.
“If you come in and are open with people, if you understand where they’re coming from, it can work,” Wasserman said. “We changed the plazas, the storefront configuration and added a community art component they’re excited about.”
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