Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will be at the Beverly Center tonight to announce details of a sweeping $500 million renovation expected to start late this month.
Once renovated, the eight-story 1980s mall will feature skylights and a new, window-dotted exterior, the Los Angeles Times reported.
But the biggest addition to the luxury-brand center will be a fancy food hall and upscale restaurants as developer Taubman Centers, like mall owners across the country, tries to lure increasingly fickle consumers, according to The Times.
Airy outdoor malls such as the Grove and the Americana at Brand, as well as retail stretches such as the Third Street Promenade, are attracting customers who want to browse while enjoying Southern California’s balmy weather, the newspaper reported.
And Young tech-savvy shoppers are choosing to buy online instead of at bricks-and-mortar stores. Analysts say it’s become imperative for shopping centers to upgrade as they face an onslaught of competition from e-commerce.
Malls trying to keep up with the times are turning to food as a way to draw people, analysts said. The Beverly Center, as part of its revamp, will introduce nine new restaurants and a food hall to be helmed by celebrity chef Michael Mina, The Times reported.
“The food is the most dramatic,” William Taubman, chief operating officer of Taubman Centers, told The Times. “We have been by far the weakest in food historically, and we will now become the strongest.”
The food hall, to be called the Street despite its location on the top- floor terrace, will offer 15 to 18 concepts from different chefs, Mina said. Possible options, he said, include a ramen bar, a poke bar and an eatery with barbecued meats from around the world. Mina will also have a restaurant on the Beverly Center’s ground floor.
