7) MAKING A MISTAKE Humbled by community disdain, the owners of Santa Monica Place apologized to residents and abandoned plans to demolish the mall and replace it with a 10-acre mixed-use complex, including high-rise office towers and condominiums.
Instead, officials with The Macerich Co., the publicly traded Santa Monica-based real estate investment trust that owns the mall and about 75 others, announced in June that they are opting for a more modest remodel of the aging Frank Gehry-designed mall located at the southern end of the Third Street Promenade.
Macerich had proposed in late 2004 to raise the mall and replace it with three, 21-story buildings that would have included condos, commercial and retail.
The plan was strongly opposed by residents, who said the buildings would not only be out of step with the Santa Monica’s small-town atmosphere, but would have also created more traffic in a city that is desperately trying to find solutions to congestion.
The City Council voted against the Macerich proposal, sending the company back to the drawing board.
In November, Macerich officials submitted a plan to operate in the existing footprint of the mall and instead of tearing it down, they are thinking of just tearing off a portion of the roof to make it an open-air mall with a food court on the third floor overlooking the ocean and pier.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 30, 2006. Read the original PDF.