Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Atlas Park still hanging on

From the Daily News:

A struggling shopping mall in Glendale is getting a facelift — but neighbors aren’t too happy about how they found out about it.

Macerich, which owns The Shops at Atlas Park, unveiled plans Tuesday for new stores and an outdoor performance space after inquires from the Daily News prompted by concerned calls from neighbors.

The company recently erected a fence around the parking lot and workers began chopping down trees there — the first sign of an overhaul since Macerich acquired the moribund mall in a foreclosure sale in January 2011.

After staying mum about its plans for months, Macerich officials said Tuesday the mall will get a Forever 21 and a Charlotte Russe retail store by this summer, in addition to a 10,000-square-foot area to host performances.

Macerich will also start construction in the coming weeks to create 100 additional parking spots, mall officials said.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Go back to the drawing board Macerich. This pan is destined for doom.
The mix is all wrong.
Better restaurants and mainstream shops are what's needed.

Anonymous said...

Is it too late to move the mall to Santa Barbara where it belongs? This current iteration is doomed. Parking spots for more patrons that won't show up??!! WTF is wrong with Macerich!

Anonymous said...

Macerich will also start construction in the coming weeks to create 100 additional parking spots, mall officials said.

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Huh? Why? I've never seen a car higher than the second level on either garage.

wait, correction, i have seen cars there. In spots they rented out for a dealership to use as storage, since the spots were always empty anyway.

Anonymous said...

If the parkin' ain't free, the customers ain't gonna show up!

The End

Anonymous said...

"Outdoor performance space"?? Nothing like loud music to draw in the crowds - and annoy the neighborhood.

Anonymous said...

Shouldn't there be an environmental impact review on that outdoor space--for noise? Will there be a bandshell? In what direction will stage/speakers point? Sound bounces off those buildings. They should work with the community beforehand. Transparency, Macebich.

Anonymous said...

If the parkin' ain't free, the customers ain't gonna show up!

Two words: Queens Center

Anonymous said...

The Forest Park Bandshell is 1 mile away with all the free parking you could want....

Anonymous said...

Why bother?
Turn it into a downstate penal facility.
At least there would be some new jobs created for prison guards.

Anonymous said...

This is not a plan - a real plan is to sell the property to Wallmarts and rebuild.

Anonymous said...

"Two words: Queens Center"

In terms of concentrations of people and public transit, Queens Center is in... a center!

On those same terms, Atlas Park is in... the middle of nowhere!

Therefore, no free parking, no customers!

Again, The End!

Atlas Park's lackluster history validates my assertion. People can try to explain away the failure of Atlas Park using claims of inappropriate mix of stores, the wrong kind of stores, etc., etc. But really, it's all about the lack of adequate public transit and lack of free parking.

The car is king in this neck of the woods, trust me, I know. I live here.

Relative to ample public transit and large concentrations of people, Atlas park is remote when compared to Queens Center Mall.