An ultramodern urban project will appear in place of the aging mall

In San Diego, California, the former Costa Verde mall will be transformed into an ultra-modern building with a hotel and biotechnology laboratory.

The history of Costa Verde, which is located near the Westfield UTC Mall, began relatively recently – in 1989. Originally it was a typical shopping center with stores, McDonald’s, and Chevron gas station, a little different from many others. And now it became known about the approval of a plan according to which the frankly outdated mall will be completely transformed. For this purpose, the center company Regency Centres owner will team up with Alexandria Real Estate, a well-known developer in the region. 

The recently approved project involves constructing 16 500 square meters of retail space, 37 000 square meters of office space, and a hotel with 200 rooms. An exciting addition will be the construction of a biotechnology laboratory, which will join an already wide range of scientific and technical premises in San Diego, built with the participation of Alexandria Real Estate. Only McDonald’s and the gas station will remain untouched. The possibility of laying a four-sided bike path was also considered, but this idea was eventually abandoned.

The idea is to abandon the classic approach to malls, just shopping and entertainment spaces with snack bars. Costa Verde will be a professional center with offices and laboratories, where you can also make purchases. It is possible that against the coronavirus pandemic’s backdrop, many other shopping malls, whose attendance has fallen sharply in recent months, will experience a similar transformation.

The cost of the project is not disclosed. It is assumed that it will exceed 230 million dollars – this is how much its early version was estimated before Alexandria Real Estate entered the business.