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By Jorge Casuso

July 16 -- The plan to transform Santa Monica Place into an upscale outdoor shopping and dining venue got a major boost Tuesday when Macerich announced that Nordstrom had signed on as one of the two anchor tenants.

The Seattle-based fashion specialty retailer is scheduled to open the three-level, 122,000-square-foot store at Broadway and 2nd Street in fall 2010, one year after the remodeled mall is slated to open. Nordstrom will take over the space formerly occupied by Robinsons-May, joining Macy’s as one of the two department stores in the two-block mall Downtown.

The signing is expected to help lure between 80 and 90 other retailers and restaurants to the mall, which will directly link to the thriving Third Street Promenade, Macerich officials said.

“This is just the beginning,” said Randy Brant, Macerich’s executive vice president of real estate, who negotiated the lease with Nordstrom. “There are a lot of negotiations going on. Over time we’re getting more interest from retailers.

“The extraordinary appeal of Nordstrom is a great match for this exceptional market, and for what we believe will be a one-of-a-kind retail project two blocks from the beach in downtown Santa Monica,” Brant said. “Nordstrom just solidifies the strength of the opportunities of Santa Monica Place.”

Rendering of remodeled Third Street entrance (Image courtesy of Santa Monica Place)

Nordstrom officials said the new location, which is some four miles from its store in the Westside Pavilion in West Los Angeles, presents an “exciting” opportunity for the major retailer, which has seven other stores in Los Angeles County.

“Santa Monica is a wonderful community and an exciting retail environment where many of our customers visit, live and work,” said Erik Nordstrom, president of stores for Nordstrom.

“We compliment Macerich on their vision for the new Santa Monica Place, which we anticipate to be an exciting shopping experience,” Nordstrom said.

Slated to open in the fall of 2009, the new mall will feature an open-air courtyard, upscale shops and a food court on the top floor with sweeping ocean views.

During the remodel, only Macy’s is staying open, along with the mall’s two public parking structures, which will get a makeover that includes adding stores on the ground floor facing Broadway and parking attendants, under a plan approved by the City Council in March.

The major remodel will open up the monolithic 550,000-square-foot structure by increasing available open space and connect it to neighboring streets with pedestrian walkways.

The centerpiece of the new design is a round open-air plaza with wide passageways that connect the mall to the Promenade to the north and the Civic Center to the south.

A key component will be moving the food court, which was at the Promenade entrance, from the ground level to a third-floor sundeck, where tables under the shade of umbrellas will provide ocean views between the stores.

Macerich officials expect the remodeled mall, which was designed by Frank Gehry three decades ago, will draw shoppers from the upscale Westside.

The “higher-end” stores will occupy the first floor, while the second floor will likely draw more moderate outlets, Brant said. Seven restaurants are expected to occupy the dining deck on the top floor.

On Tuesday Nordstrom also announced plans to relocate its existing Cerritos, California, store at Los Cerritos Center and complete a remodel and expansion for its Broadway Plaza store in Walnut Creek, California.