Fashion Island Announces New Look, New Stores
A major facelift and new store debuts were announced at the Fashion Island retail center Thursday. An ornate, giant fountain will be central to the new look at the Newport Beach, Calif., luxury center, which is owned by the Irvine Co.
The renovations will be finished by late 2011 and cost more than $100 million, according to Keith Eyrich, president of the Irvine Co. Retail Properties. The renovations were designed by San Francisco–based BCV Architects and will transform the 42-year-old outdoor retail center from a Spanish-style look to one of classic Italian-style architecture.
Some of the most dramatic new looks will be constructed at the courtyard between Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s. This spot’s landmark will be a hand-carved granite fountain inspired by Rome’s Fountain of the Four Rivers. The Fashion Island fountain will feature a 45-foot-tall obelisk and synchronized, animated movements of the fountain water.
New construction at Fashion Island’s lower-level atrium cafeacute;s section will feature a 24-foot waterwall. Other new construction includes a new 700-space parking structure. It will be located by the full-line Nordstrom, which will open in 2010.
Other new boutiques set to open at Fashion Island in 2010 will be Michael Stars and True Religion. A 42,000-square-foot Dick’s Sporting Goods will open at Fashion Island on July 3.
Much of the renovation will be geared toward new signage, planters and paving. But the more dramatic looks of the renovation were intended to give Fashion Island an added edge in the increasing competition to attract shoppers, said Howard Forman, a marketing professor at California State University, Fullerton. “They want to make the shopping experience an event,” he said. —Andrew Asch
