Similar to the process for La Cumbre Plaza in Santa Barbara (see also 'From Malls to Mainstreet' under the 'Media' section of this site) the design challenge was to create an attractive shopping environment that could compete with the downtown and would remain attractive for many years to come; and this needed to be accomplished without a big capital outlay on part of the landlord.
The design team decided to return the mall back into a quasi ‘mainstreet’ environment, with a set of design guidelines for individual stores. New tenants were to treat their storefront as if it was their own building façade on their own building, using rules very similar to downtowns anywhere.
The design seamlessly integrates the shopping mall into the existing downtown.
Gerhard W. Mayer was the lead architect on this project.
