(August 23, 2003) -- Developer DDR has announced that its CityPlace project in downtown LB opened on August 22 with a Nordstrom Rack (3d St.and the Promenade) and Ross Dress For Less (Promenade just north of 3d St.).
A written release from the developer said other anchor tenants and approximate opening dates are:
Sav-on (15,000 square feet, late October)
DDR also indicated it "has signed leases or a letter of intent from retailers for approximately 90 percent of the project’s leasable space. Tenants with executed leases include: Payless Shoe Source; KB Toys; Ashley Stewart; Anna's Linens; ProfessioNail; Footaction; Luxury Perfumes; Sally Beauty Supply; GNC; Voice Stream Wireless; Fantastic Sam's; Claires; Bank of the West; Dominic’s Nail Salon; Crescent Jewelers; Found Theater; Panda Express; Subway; Togo's/Baskin Robbins; Starbucks and Chopsticks. Opening dates are being finalized."
The release indicates LB Mayor Beverly O'Neill "personally met with Nordstrom officials and expressed the city's long-held desire for a store." The release quotes the Mayor as saying, "CityPlace and Nordstrom Rack are precisely what we need in downtown Long Beach to continue our revitalization. I'm also very pleased to welcome Ross Dress for Less back to downtown LB." (Ross previously operated at the former downtown LB Plaza.)
CityPlace covers eight square blocks on the site of the former LB Plaza, an enclosed mall that closed in 1999. Additional land was acquired from LB's Redevelopment Agency.
CityPlace includes approximately 340 residential units, being developed by PCS Development and Urban Pacific Partners LLC for DDR, which are expected to be completed in Spring 2003.
The developer says its $100 million project creates "a pedestrian-friendly urban village with residential units above street-level retail and a lively street scene." It adds, "CityPlace features an Art Deco style with colors, materials and textures consistent with surrounding areas. It was designed by the Jerde Partnership of Venice, Ca., one of the nation's pre-eminent urban architecture firms. Jerde has designed such well-known and successful urban projects as Horton Plaza in San Diego, Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, and Universal CityWalk in Universal City."
DDR is also City Hall's chosen developer for the Pike at Rainbow Harbor (formerly called the Queensway Bay entertainment and retail project) on LB's downtown waterfront. As previously reported by LBReport.com, construction on the Pike at Rainbow Harbor began in May.