George Ridcumb from All American Asphalt drives an Asphalt Milling Machine down Ocean Avenue on Wednesday, November 30, 2011. They are working at Bay Street and Ocean Avenue.

Rene Lujan of Sudhakar Co. paints a bicycle sign on the 1900 block of Main Street on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.

Macerich, one of the nation’s largest owners, operators and developers of regional shopping centers, Tuesday, May 5, 2009, marked a key milestone for Santa Monica Place and announced its plans to open the new retail and dining destination on Aug. 6, 2010, alongside the new Bloomingdale’s.

“We launched construction just over a year ago to begin transforming Santa Monica Place from an enclosed, old-style mall into a modern, open-air center with fresh retail offerings and a spectacular rooftop Dining Deck with views of the ocean,” said Randy Brant, Executive Vice President, Real Estate, for Macerich. “The center is making terrific progress, and we plan to open the new Santa Monica Place on Aug. 6, 2010, along with Bloomingdale’s and a wide array of high-quality specialty retailers and chef-driven restaurants.

“With Nordstrom opening just a few weeks after Bloomingdale’s and Santa Monica Place are introduced, our guests can look forward to an exciting month full of exceptional debut experiences. August in Santa Monica is prime time for tourists, who, along with affluent local residents and the vibrant local business community, are an important target shopper base for the new Santa Monica Place,” added Brant.

In addition to Bloomingdale’s, which selected Santa Monica Place as the site of its first SoHo concept store outside Manhattan, and Nordstrom, retailers signed on for the project include Arthur, BCBGMAXAZRIA, Coach, Ed Hardy, Ilori, Joe’s Jeans, Love Culture, Kitson, Michael Brandon, R.O.C. Republic of Couture, Shuz and True Religion, as well as Artevo, a technology-driven art gallery.

The urban beach environment at Santa Monica Place is a major focus of the experience, which is keyed to the property’s signature indoor/outdoor rooftop Dining Deck featuring ocean views and a carefully selected set of chef-driven restaurants and quick-casual dining options. Already announced restaurants include two concepts from nationally recognized restaurateur Richard Sandoval, Zengo and La Sandia, plus Pizza Antica, Ozumo Sushi, and XINO Restaurant + Lounge.

Santa Monica Place, which officially launched construction in April 2008, with a high-profile “Demo Day” celebration, is a three-level, open-air, approximately 550,000-square-foot retail and dining destination located just two blocks from the beach and adjacent to the popular Third Street Promenade.

Macerich is a fully integrated self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust, which focuses on the acquisition, leasing, management, development and redevelopment of regional malls throughout the United States. The company is the sole general partner and owns an 87% ownership interest in The Macerich Partnership, L.P. Macerich now owns approximately 76 million square feet of gross leaseable area consisting primarily of interests in 72 regional malls. Additional information about Macerich can be obtained from the Company’s Web site at www.macerich.com.

Bob Aptaker, Macerich executive vice president of development, gives an update on statues of the  550,000-square-foot mall's remodeling operation during a behind-the-scenes construction tour at Santa Monica Place on Thursday, February 12, 2009. The design takes the roof off the central portion of the current mall to provide for open-air walkways and spacious public gathering areas. Nordstrom and Bloomingdales will anchor the mall as its only department stores. Santa Monica Place is scheduled to reopen in mid 2010.