Victoria Gardens Celebrates 10 Years With A Modern Redevelopment

(As part of our lead up to the ICSC Western Division conference, GlobeSt.com is bringing readers the different voices and approaches of various operators in the region. Today we hear from Melina Ferraez, director of marketing at Victoria Gardens in San Bernardino County about the changes taking place at the one of the county's leading shopping destinations.)

When regional shopping center Victoria Gardens opened in the Inland Empire in 2004, it quickly became the pride of the Inland Empire. 

Forest City's unique master plan and the center's architecture—with an open-air center featuring drivable streets, sidewalks and genuine Route 66 vintage signs—was, and is, tenanted with the area's best offerings of popular restaurants and retailers, including BRIO Tuscan Grille and Paul Martin's American Grill, and fashion retailers such as Anthropologie and H&M. In its 10th year, Victoria Gardens has created a name for itself within the community, and its sales strength has given the center great cache in the retail industry.

But as with any leader, Victoria Gardens must meet the demands of its customers. And with a new set of redevelopments, the center is, appealling to the current shopper while also capturing a more urban experience for the growing millennial demographic.

The redevelopment will focus on three full blocks, including the Monet Avenue common area, the Food Hall common area and a complete repositioning of the Food Hall into retail space, transforming Monet Avenue into a modern, entertainment-focused lifestyle district, for both day and night. The Food Hall building will be repurposed into high profile fashion-forward retail.

The five following elements are key to this new design:

1. Sustainability:
   Victoria Gardens will be introducing a number of sustainable design and building elements, such as LED lighting, installing drought resistant landscaping, and extending the area's sidewalks using porous pavers. 
   
   
2. Street-scene Dining:
   Appealing to shoppers' increasing desire for community, Victoria Gardens will renovate its Monet Avenue to include a vibrant street scene.  The street will feature patio dining areas that will open up to the main pedestrian walkways, allowing those eating and those shopping to “run into” one another.
   
   
3. Connectivity:
   Victoria Gardens will add several hot spots with free Wi-Fi.  In addition, the redevelopment will include the installation of several charging stations where shoppers can plug in phones and tablets while taking a break from shopping.
   
   
4. Parklets:
   The introduction of parklets will offer shoppers a place to stop, chat, and recharge both their phones and themselves while deciding which store to visit next. These small parklets will also serve as visual extensions of the sidewalk, providing green space to shoppers.
   
   
5. New retailers:
   Victoria Gardens will focus on bringing in several new fast casual dining restaurants and cafes that will be incorporated into the active outdoor patio areas. In addition, the center will focus on increasing its contemporary fashion retailers that will complement its current retailers within that category.

The first phase of the redevelopment will encompass the Monet Avenue project, beginning in February 2015 with an estimated completion date of November 2015. The second phase, including the repositioning of the Food Hall and common area, will begin May of 2015, and be complete in June 2016.

Victoria Gardens will continue its position as the leading center in the large and growing Inland Empire, and will continue to meet the changing tastes of its customers with fresh dining and shopping options, as well as an eye on consumer trends.

Visit the County of San Bernardino at ICSC Western Division Conference in San Diego at Booth #448. www.SBCountyAdvantage.com

Any opinions expressed in this article are the author's own.