Glendale Galleria

Glendale Galleria
Front entrance
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Shopping mall
Location	Glendale, California, United States
Address	100 W Broadway Suite 700
Coordinates	34°8′45.22″N 118°15′29.82″W
Construction started	1973
Estimated completion	1976
Opened	October 14, 1976; 47 years ago (1976-10-14)
Renovated	2012-2013
Cost	US$75 million
Renovation cost	US$57.5 million
Owner	Brookfield Properties
Technical details
Material	Brick, marble, stone, aluminum, steel, granite, glass[1]
Floor count	3
Floor area	1.6 million sq ft (150,000 m^2)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Jon Jerde
Developer	Glendale Associates
Renovating team
Architect(s)	Kevin Kennon[1][2] SWA Group[1] (Landscape Architect)
Renovating firm	ELS Architecture[1][2] Kevin Kennon Architects[1][2]
Engineer	S.Y. Lee Associates[1] (Consulting Engineers) AMEC E&I[1] (Geotechnical)
Structural engineer	KPFF Consulting Engineers[1]
Civil engineer	KPFF Consulting Engineers[1]
Other designers	RSM Design[1][2] (Signage and Graphics) Horten Lees Brogden[1] (Lighting)
Main contractor	VCC Construction[1]
Other information
Number of stores	200+
Number of anchors	6
Parking	2 parking decks, 6300+ spots total[3]
Website
glendalegalleria.com
References
[1][2][3]

The Glendale Galleria is a large three-story regional shopping center and office complex located in downtown Glendale, California, United States. Opened in 1976 with 1,600,000-square-foot (150,000 m²) of retail space, it is the third-largest mall in Los Angeles County after Lakewood Center and Del Amo Fashion Center.

The mall is owned and managed by Brookfield Properties since 2002. It has been consistently ranked as one of the highest-grossing shopping centers in the United States.

The mall features the traditional retailers Target, Dick's Sporting Goods, JCPenney, Macy's, and Bloomingdale's.

History

The Glendale Galleria was developed by Glendale Associates, a partnership between J.S. Griffiths Co, Broadway Hale Stores and M.J. Brock & Sons.^[4] Construction of the mall started in 1973 as agreements were negotiated with Glendale's Redevelopment Agency. The mall cost US$75 million.^[5] The architect was Jon Jerde,^[6] who credited his design to a Ray Bradbury essay on reviving retail districts.^[7][8] The first shops to open in the mall were the Buffums and The Broadway department stores, both in August 1976, a few months prior to the mall's formal opening. The Galleria officially opened on October 14, 1976.^[9][10][11] Ohrbach's and JCPenney opened locations in October and November 1976, respectively.^[12]

The Galleria's first expansion, Galleria II, was completed in 1983.^[12] It expanded a wing of the mall and added another anchor store, Nordstrom along with Mervyn's.^[13] The first Panda Express restaurant opened in Galleria II in the same year, on level 3 near Bloomingdale's.

The first Disney Store opened in the Glendale Galleria on March 28, 1987. By 1990, the mall was 1.6 million square feet (150,000 m²) in size, and had annual revenues of $350 million.^[14] In 1990, the Buffums store closed, which was demolished and replaced by a three-story Robinsons-May store in 1993. In 1996, The Broadway closed, and was replaced by a Macy's.

Glendale Galleria was selected by Apple Inc. as the location of one of the first two Apple Stores in the world (along with Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Virginia); both officially opened on May 19, 2001.^[15]

On September 4, 2002, the Galleria's three owners at the time; J.S. Griffiths, Cigna, and the New York State Teachers' Retirement System, put the mall up for sale "for reasons unrelated to the mall's performance".^[16] On October 28, 2002, it was announced that General Growth Properties (now Brookfield Properties) would buy the Glendale Galleria for $415 million.^[17] The acquisition was completed on December 6, 2002.^[18]

The Galleria includes the world's first three-story Target store, which opened to the public on July 29, 2007 replacing the former Robinsons-May store, which closed in 2006.^[19] Mervyn's filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2009, and Bloomingdale's replaced it in 2013. In 2014, Nordstrom moved next door to the Americana, and in 2016, Dick's Sporting Goods reconstructed a portion of the previous Nordstrom. In 2019, Gold's Gym opened in the other half.

In 2016, it was reported that 30 million people have visited the Galleria throughout the year, making it one of the top 100 shopping centers according to Green Street Advisors.^[20] As of 2017, over 200 stores operate in the Galleria, with 6 of them acting as anchor stores.^[11]

Architecture

The Glendale Galleria, under renovation at the time, pictured from across S. Central Ave. looking westward

Originally, the Galleria was covered in a windowless, unadorned brick finish.^[1] This type of architecture reflected the style of other shopping malls built across the country between the 1960s and 1970s.

Renovation

Starting April 25, 2012, the Galleria underwent an extensive renovation.^[11][21][22] Designed by Kevin Kennon, objectives of the renovation included a modernized look, improved signage, and enhanced circulation and access.^[23] Various metal panels and meshes, most made out of white marble and black granite,^[1] were added to the building's facades. The renovation cost $57.5 million^[21] and was completed on November 9, 2013.^[24]

In popular culture

In 2020, American pop singer Billie Eilish used Glendale Galleria as the setting for her "Therefore I Am" music video.^[25]

References

1. "Glendale Galleria City Design Review" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-01-07. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
2. "Glendale Galleria - RSM Design". Retrieved 2016-11-17.
3. "Parking | Glendale Galleria". Retrieved 2016-12-21.
4. "Financing Set for Galleria in Glendale". Los Angeles Times. June 2, 1974. Retrieved March 11, 2010.^{[dead link]}
5. "Glendale Galleria timeline: 1972: Galleria project..." Retrieved 2016-11-17.
6. Lieberman, Paul; Efron, Sonni (March 10, 2000). "MOMA to Advise Tokyo Museum et al". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 11, 2010. ("Los Angeles area's mega-mall expert, Jon Jerde, designer of Universal City's CityWalk, the Westside Pavilion and Glendale Galleria")
7. Weller, Sam. The Bradbury chronicles: the life of Ray Bradbury p.292 (William Morrow 2005) (ISBN 978-0060545819)
8. Bradbury, Ray. "The Pomegranate Architect". The Paris Review. Archived from the original on 2015-01-30.
9. "Glendale Galleria Mall Opens to Public". Los Angeles Times. October 13, 1976. Retrieved March 11, 2010.^{[dead link]} ("A milestone event in Southland retail merchandising will take place in Glendale on Thursday, October 14, when the 1,000-foot long shopping mall of the $70-million Glendale Galleria...")
10. Brent Hopkins (October 27, 2009). "Mall for a new generation". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved March 11, 2010. ("This all led to the 1976 birth of the Glendale Galleria, the super-regional mall so huge it extended across several city blocks. ... General Growth Properties Inc., owner of the Glendale Galleria")
11. "Glendale Galleria celebrates 40 years". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2017-03-25.
12. "Glendale Galleria timeline". tribunedigital-glendalenews-press. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
13. GROVES, MARTHA (1987-12-21). "Months of Planning Come to End as Glendale Galleria Packs 'Em In". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
14. Andrea Adelson (July 8, 1990). "Glendale, Calif.; 2 Office Towers Rising at Last". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
15. Joe Wilcox. "Does Apple have a future in retail? - CNET News". CNET. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
16. "FOR SALE: GLENDALE GALLERIA". The Free Library. Los Angeles Daily News. September 4, 2002. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
17. "GLENDALE GALLERIA OFF SHELF MALL SOLD FOR $415 MILLION". The Free Library. Los Angeles Daily News. October 29, 2002. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
18. "BRIEFCASE GGP'S ACQUISITION OF GALLERIA FINAL". The Free Library. Los Angeles Daily News. December 6, 2002. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
19. "Soft Open: World's First Three-Floor Target Store". Curbed Los Angeles. July 25, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
20. "Brick and mortar stores are dying, but not at this mall". Marketplace. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
21. "Glendale Galleria owners launch major makeover of mall - latimes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-12-21.
22. "Hard Work of Modernizing the Glendale Galleria Has Begun". Curbed Los Angeles. April 25, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
23. "Glendale Galleria names architects for center renovation". Chain Store Age. April 26, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
24. "Glendale Galleria officially debuts new sleek look". Los Angeles Daily News. November 9, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
25. Martoccio, Angie (November 12, 2020). "Billie Eilish Roams Deserted California Mall in 'Therefore I Am' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 14, 2020.

External links

• Glendale Galleria official website