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Developer details The Promenade's expansion
By: CHRIS BAGLEY - Staff Writer
Upscale shops and at least three eateries to open in spring 2009 | ∞
TEMECULA -- A range of upscale restaurant and retail chains will enter Southwest County in early 2009 with an open-air expansion at The Promenade, the shopping center's owners said Wednesday.
Those chains include the Yard House, a brewery and restaurant; Williams-Sonoma, a cookware store; Pottery Barn, a purveyor of home decorations; and Chico's, a clothing store, representatives of Ohio-based Forest City Enterprises said.
The row of shops and eateries, which total 126,000 square feet, will extend eastward on the east side of the mall, between Macy's department store and the Edwards movie theater. Steel rebar for the pillars of a parking garage are already rising alongside the site; it's expected to be completed by May, according to the owners.
Along with renovations inside and outside the million-square-foot mall, the expansion will cost about $100 million, said Kenneth Lee, Forest City's chief of West Coast development. Shops and restaurants are expected to begin opening in the spring of 2009, Lee said.
Lee and Temecula Mayor Chuck Washington cast the planned addition as the latest sign of Southwest County's growing affluence. In the last three years, Temecula, Murrieta and Wine Country have gotten their first developments of million-dollar houses and their first office buildings categorized as "Class A" for their lofty atriums and shiny glass exteriors.
"This mall was built nine years ago," Lee said. "Back then, it was a younger city, a younger community. The demographic has really moved upward."
Forest City is billing the expansion as a "lifestyle center," a relatively new class of shopping centers that includes outdoor walkways and more sit-down restaurants than traditional enclosed malls. Others include Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, which Forest City developed in 2004, and The River, a smaller shopping center in Rancho Mirage.
The Promenade last expanded, to 1.05 million square feet, in late 2004. Its expansion over the next 18 months is expected to be its last. The developer's initial agreement with the city in 1999 gave it until January 2007 to complete construction of buildings totalling 1.18 million square feet. The council granted a three-year extension last year.
Washington said he expects more social interaction in the new wing than in the existing mall.
"We'll make plans to meet here," he said. "We'll shop here. We'll live here."
Yard House has planned to expand into Southwest Riverside County for more than a year, but hadn't found a suitable location, founder and chief executive Steele Platt said in an interview Wednesday. The Irvine-based chain has 18 locations nationwide, including Victoria Gardens, The River, and San Diego's Gaslamp District.
"Being a large sit-down restaurant like that, you really don't want to be inside the mall," Platt said.
Platt had eyed Murrieta's Golden Triangle, a 60-acre area bounded by I-15, I-215 and Murrieta Hot Springs Road, with some degree of seriousness. But a 658,000-square-foot development by Lewis Retail Centers became the fourth consecutive plan to fall through, in August 2006. The Garrett Group, of Temecula, and Domenigoni Barton Properties, which owns the land, laid out plans for a 1.3 million-square-foot development earlier this year.
Southwest County diners have frequently mentioned Yard House as a chain they'd like to have here, often in the same breath as BJ's, an Orange County-based brewery and restaurant that opened last year at Ynez Road and Overland Drive, just a stone's throw from The Promenade. Forest City has discussed plans for at least two other restaurants, though representatives declined Wednesday to say which, if any, have committed.
Steve Hamlin, a longtime chef and caterer, said he believes Yard House will indeed enhance the local dining scene.
But Hamlin, who owned and ran Allie's at Callaway restaurant from 2002 through 2006 and plans to open Allie's Tapas au Vin cafe in January on nearby Overland Drive, also bemoaned the prevalence of corporate chains, whose menus he called formulaic.
"I welcome somebody like Yard House more than casual dining because it isn't so generic," Hamlin said. "But the chains are wearing me out."
-- Contact staff writer Chris Bagley at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2615, or cbagley@californian.com.
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Nordies wrote on Nov 15, 2007 12:10 AM:I heard a rumor (and it may very well just be that), aren't we supposed to be getting a Nordstrom up here...Oh that would be sooooo nice. Any one have info on this?
T1 wrote on Nov 15, 2007 1:54 AM:This is great news for Temecula. I'm sure the expansion will be very nice. To bad for Murrieta. Again Temecula is the benefactor of good managment. I guess if you snoose you lose and Murrietas Golden Triangle is loosing out to the Promenade.
Temeculadoglvr wrote on Nov 15, 2007 5:45 AM:The city fathers seem to be oblivious to the fact that lack of parking on the northwest side of the mall is killing the business of the restaurants already in place. One restaurant has already closed. Parking in that area is almost impossible after 5:00 on Friday thru Sunday. My family and friends will not even consider those restaurants as a viable option during those periods. The new parking structure being built on the east side will do nothing to alleviate the current westside problem. As usual, our city government is more interested in new revenue sources than maintaining or improving the quality of life for the existing area residents or businesses.
1PostWonder wrote on Nov 15, 2007 7:23 AM:Why is the word "upscale" being tossed around this paper lately? Temeku Hills first, now Yardhouse and Pottery Barn? What, is anything above a trailer home or a ... considered upscale? Please. Temeculadoglvr is sooo right! If it doesn't bring any revenue, the city doesn't want it. Yardhouse didn't go to Murrieta because of the failed deal. Actually, that was a good thing in hindsight. The Triangle was not going to be fully built out. This currently proposed project is so much better and there WILL be actual upscale retail and restaurants.
Gov 101 wrote on Nov 15, 2007 8:32 AM:To TemDogLvr - With the new addition of the parking structures and the new wing, their business will boom much higher than before construction started. We cant jump to conclusions why restaurants close there, many have in the past before construction started. I believe everyone at the mall and those who surround will benefit greatly from the expansion. Its called growing pains, tought it out and they will be rewarded.
Concerned-1 wrote on Nov 15, 2007 8:56 AM:This is a great project for Temecula, but another nail in the coffin for Murrieta's not-so Golden Triangle.
long-time resident wrote on Nov 15, 2007 10:43 AM:Can't we all just get along! I think it's a great project and I'm glad to see more upscale shops and eateries come to our town. After nine years, I think it's time to add more retailers to the Promenade.
seme wrote on Nov 15, 2007 11:09 AM:The stores and restaurants listed aren't "upscale", they are just places that adults frequent. Which is something the current mall selection sorely lack!! Maybe my trips to Valley Center will be reduced. Second the motion for a Nordies.
Excited! wrote on Nov 15, 2007 7:52 PM:Soooo excited! Temecula is getting close to perfect for our young, upper-middle class family. We haven't given up hope for a Nordstrom, Potterybarn Kids, and Crate and Barrel. Let's not forget about The Cheesecake Factory and PF for a little snack too.
Temac wrote on Nov 15, 2007 9:14 PM:Why would these upscale stores want to be in a rundown dirty mall. Next time any of you visit the mall really take a look around. The food court should closed down. All the entrance's are filthy. We deserve better.
this is a positive thing wrote on Nov 15, 2007 11:04 PM:This is a positive thing for the city and will ensure that the mall doesn't become a dead mall like so many others. I've been hoping for an Apple Store myself. :-) That drive to San Diego or Rancho Cucamonga is getting a bit old. I would settle for one of the mini Apple Stores if we can't get a full-size one!
temeculadoglvr wrote on Nov 17, 2007 6:34 PM:To Gov 101: Your response that "with the new addition of the parking structure...their businesses will boom much higher than before..." is laughable. Do you honestly believe that someone will park on the south side of the mall, walk 1/4" of a mile to the north side, and cross a very busy access road to reach the restaurants there? Doesn't sound like a relaxing evening out to me, but maybe you enjoy a long & hazardous jaunt before and after dinner. What is sad is that I have seen whole families dangerously running thru traffic on that busy access road because they had to park across the street in the Macy's parking lot. For my money I will choose to dine in an area that doesn't serve a big helping of stress as an appetizer.
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