San Francisco OKs CityPlace Mall

Here is a project that was approved by the San Francisco Planning Commission that has been five years in the making. One of the most interesting points in the article is the commission was concerned it has too MUCH parking in the two underground garages the center was providing.  San Francisco is definitely a transit first city with a great system of moving people around.  

This project will be located on a neglected section of Market Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets.

See article from the San Francisco Chronicle here:

CityPlace Mall

Creative Solutions for Transforming Retail Centers

This is a great article about trends in retail design and development including “Main Street” development or Lifestyle Centers as we have begun to document in the previous (and future) posts.

Read the article by Tom Scott, AIA from the June feature article of Shopping Center Business:


Creative Solutions for Transforming Retail Centers

Part 1 - Ohio Lifestyle Center Series: The Shops At Fallen Timbers

We will start this series of Ohio Lifestyle Center posts with The Shops at Fallen Timbers in the Toledo suburb of Maumee. It is the newest of the Ohio Lifestyle Centers (that I am aware of), opening in October of 2007 and the last Ohio LC to open before the recession. The Shops at Fallen Timbers has 640,000 square feet of leasable retail space in an open air, “Main Street” format and includes anchor tenants of Dillard’s, JC Penney, Barnes & Noble, and a 14 screen Rave Motion Pictures theater. For a list of all current stores – see the Directory. 

General Growth Properties developed and owns the mall and ka architecture of Cleveland designed the center that sits on a 450 acre mixed-use commercial and residential development. Long term – the site is planned to include an expanded office park and single family residential properties.

This center was a great addition to the Toledo area that has not seen the same retail growth of other Ohio cities. Levis Commons, another open air center opened in 2004 is just 6 miles east of The Shops at Fallen Timbers in neighboring Perrysburg. Both of these modern outdoor centers replaced the aging and traditional Southwyck Mall that was opened in 1972 and demolished in 2009 in Southeast Toledo. For those familiar with Southwyck (I shopped there in the 70’s and 80’s) – you may remember a portion of the mall that was called Old Town. Old Town was an indoor replica of a nostalgic American town with turn of the century storefronts, cobbled “streets” and narrow walkways that showcased unique and unusual shops. Old Town did not last very long and it is a bit ironic to think that the hottest shopping center format in the two neighboring cities of Maumee and Perrysburg (and in the nation) have adopted the “Main Street” theme in their newest developments (albeit a much better adaptation of Main Street).

Ohio Lifestyle Centers

I will spend the next several months reviewing Ohio's lifestyle centers.  These have exploded over the past 10 years with Easton Town Center being one of the first in the nation.  Typically, they are suburban developments that are designed to create an urban community of living, dining, working, playing, and of course - shopping. Here are some images of the various Center's (or Centre's depending on how proper you want to be) throughout Ohio including the cities and/or metro areas of Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati.

Jerome Village Development

(Image from Jerome Village Website)

Jerome Village is a development northwest of Columbus near Dublin.  It will be a community unto itself with housing, a town center, as well as offices, schools and lots of open space and parks. 

One could potentially work, live, shop, and play here in a community set up to foster community interaction.

Read more here:

Jerome Village