Fashion Valley in San Diego Unveils $20 Million New Look
On the weekend of April 27, the Fashion Valley retail center in San Diego is celebrating a $20 million renovation with a series of fashion shows featuring looks from its tenants, ranging from the contemporary suiting of Ted Baker to the casual looks of Gap.
The new look was the first major overhaul of Fashion Valley since 1997, and the renovation represents almost two years of work at the two-level, 1.7-million-square foot regional mall, owned by Simon Property Group Inc., which owns or has an interest in 337 retail centers in North America. Simon also penned an agreement April 9 to develop outlet malls in Brazil.
While the scope of the project seeams gargantuan, Fashion Valley and the renovation’s architect, SPGA Architecture & Planning, intended for the mall’s new look to feel as comfortable as a neighborhood café.
The renovated Fashion Valley features nine living room “vignettes,” or areas. They feature soft, comfortable chairs and sofas. To help mall visitors pass the time, the living room areas are being outfitted with a wireless connection, said mall manager Robert Doherty. It’s a design strategy to keep people at the mall, Doherty said, and it’s a strategy that’s enjoying a greater cachet.
“When you hear about a new shopping center, you’ll notice that the mention of enhanced seating areas is on everyone’s list of key components working,” Doherty said. “Everyone realized the importance of creating nice, comfortable places where customers can relax and extend their visit.”
Other parts of the renovation seemingly were intended to inspire. Fashion Valley’s new look features three fountains. Construction is being finished on the fountain in the mall’s Elevator Court on April 27. It features a glass-wall element with seven different water pumps pushing water over the glass wall during different intervals. The Bloomingdale’s Court is the home of a fountain with an art installation. The Macy’s Court fountain features differently sized vertical columns.
Most of the mall’s renovation work might be easy to miss if a visitor is in a rush. The entire mall’s flooring was replaced, and every building was repainted in earth tones, Doherty said.
“We want to do a color palette that was more natural, would stand the test of time and changes through various periods,” Doherty said.
Fashion Valley’s red brick paving was ripped out by The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., which performed most of the project’s contracting work, and was replaced by concrete paving colored with shades of rich, dark brown and tan colors.
Fashion Valley not only wanted to make the place more comfortable, they sought to invest the mall with a pleasant, garden-like feeling. Succulents and desert-tolerant plants were placed around the mall in areas designed by Mission Landscape Companies, which also landscaped 30 different palm trees placed throughout the mall’s first level as well as mall entrances. There are eight flowering shade trees in different seating areas around Fashion Valley.
The extensive renovation won’t be the last in the 43-year-old mall’s history, especially in a region where the shopping-center business is quite competitive.
“We want to keep it look fresh,” Doherty said. A new look is one way to keep a step ahead of the competition.—A.A.
