Santa Monica Place is located on two square blocks immediately south of the famed Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA, two blocks east of the historic pier, and just north of the city’s municipal offices and civic center. Yet, despite its central location in an upscale community among many popular attractions, the original suburban-style mall was not reaching its potential.

Replacing the 1980s-era, enclosed mall with a new, urban open-air district, the new Santa Monica Place is an iconic commercial project that fully delivers on its stated design intent – to fit like a final puzzle piece into the fabric of thriving downtown Santa Monica.  Los Angeles Magazine captured the design essence in August 2010 when the 524,000-square foot project opened:   

“Replacing the bunkerlike complex that was the trés 80s Santa Monica Place…is a new, multi-million-dollar, three-story shopping center that is all air and light, with brushed steel and terra cotta around an open-air plaza.  We’d call it a mall (it’s anchored by Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom) but with unobstructed views of the ocean…it’s not like any mall we’ve seen.”

By removing the roof and gutting its interior, while retaining over 50% of the existing structure on its 10-acre site, Santa Monica Place connects on all four sides to a walkable downtown and neighboring shopping districts, including the famous adjacent Third Street Promenade.  Incorporating forms, materials, and landscaping native and familiar to the city, the design seamlessly blends with its context.

The new urban project, just two blocks from the ocean, complements and extends Third Street, providing a vibrant public plaza rather than just a commercial center. The dramatic upper-level Dining Deck – designed as the ‘fifth elevation’ – redefines vertical design and commercial space.  Importantly, as one of the few large-scale urban centers to be Gold LEED certified, Santa Monica Place serves as a new model for transforming struggling U.S. commercial properties.