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# Mall plan scrapped because of cost realities
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/mall-plan-scrapped-because-of-cost-realities/
- Published: 2003-03-31T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T01:57:12.000Z
- Author: Carolyn Sackariason
- Tags: local, Promenade, #archive-import

*SM Place plan scrapped*

Economic realities have squashed grandiose plans to tear down Santa Monica Place and connect a new mall to the Third Street Promenade.

Instead, a more modest plan to tear down the front entrance on two levels and move the food court to the third level overlooking the ocean is what Macerich Corp., the owners of the mall, are now suggesting.

Original plans to open up the mall so the Promenade can extend through it would cost upwards of $150 million, which neither the city or Macerich can afford.

“It’s extremely unrealistic,” said Henry Lichtman, who represents Macerich Corp.

The concept is part of the city’s Civic Center redevelopment plan, which proposes to completely rebuild the area around City Hall on Main Street. The plan, still in its infancy, is estimated to cost $120 million, not including a contribution to Macerich’s redevelopment of the mall.

Officials visualized a pedestrian-oriented strip that would extend from Wilshire Boulevard all the way to Main Street. That could only happen if Santa Monica Place, which was built before the Promenade, is torn down and rebuilt as an outdoor mall. Officials consider Santa Monica Place an obstacle, preventing the flow of pedestrian traffic to the Civic Center and the pier.

The city, which is facing a $11 million deficit this year, would have to spend $150 million to move the parking underground and extend the Promenade another block from Broadway to Colorado Avenue.

“I don’t think anyone should hold their breath that everything is blown up and redone,” said Rob York, a consultant for the Bayside District Corp., a nonprofit organization that manages downtown with the city.

Macerich’s “interim plan” calls an increase in retail space and parking and would include office space and housing units. Both department stores would remain.

City officials last week diverted millions of dollars from the Civic Center plan, which some see as a sure sign that extending the Promenade is nothing more than a dream.

“Money is progressively being pulled out and that’s the clearest acceptance that the resources aren’t there,” said Bayside board member Rob Rader. “It has to relate to the Civic Center.”

Lichtman said Macerich Corp. wants to open the first level of the mall regardless of whether the Civic Center is ever redeveloped. But it can’t commit to much more if the city isn’t willing to pay for some of it.

“I don’t think it’s going to pencil out, ever,” he said.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 31, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/033103.pdf?ref=smdp.com)