Irvine Company plans to spend more than $100 million in the next two years to expand and revamp its Fashion Island shopping center in Newport Beach.
The renovation is the most significant makeover of the mall since 1987.
The outdoor mall is adding 147,000 square feet for a total of 1.5 million square feet, according to Keith Eyrich, president of Irvine Co.’s retail properties.
The project is slated to be done by late 2011.
Irvine Co., whose headquarters overlooks the mall, is adding bricked walkways, signs, more parking, Italian lighting, landscaping and a 24-foot water wall.
A courtyard between Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s is set to get a 45-foot hand-carved granite fountain, inspired by a fountain in Rome, and a new pavilion, designed and built in Italy.
“We’re organizing this entire court into a bit of a more formal space,” Eyrich said.
The landscaping and architecture along the walkways and in the courtyards also will take on a more Italian flavor,a passion of Chairman Donald Bren,with Italian pine trees, Italian lighting and fountains.
The Pacifica courtyard, next to Macy’s and facing the ocean, is adding 4,000-square-feet of retail space and outdoor patios. A fountain there is being redone and more patio dining space is being added.
A koi pond in front of the Atrium Court will get new brick paving.
Some of things that will disappear from the mall are the pop-jet water fountain in front of Nordstrom and the carousel near Macy’s.
A water wall already is done near a new two-level, 83,000-square-foot building for Dick’s Sporting Goods and Dean & DeLuca.
Dick’s Sporting Goods is slated to open early July on the lower level of the new building. On most of the top floor, Dean & DeLuca, a 23,000-square-foot gourmet grocer and cookware store, is expected to open in the first half of next year.
Dean & DeLuca originally planned to open this summer but is taking longer because it’s adding a European bakery, Eyrich said.
Fashion Island hopes to lease the rest of the top floor once Dean & DeLuca is built out.
