New Trend In Malls: Main Streets

"The Mall Meets Main Street forges direct links between a regional mall and a main street/town center, one of the new types of pedestrian-oriented mixed-use projects being developed in some suburban communities. Proponents of the concept say the synergy generates financial and other benefits for developers, retailers and the community. Probably the first developer to plan and build a Mall Meets Main Street is The Newhall Land & Farming Co. in its new town of Valencia, Calif., 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. Starting in 1995, Newhall Land developed a new half-mile-long main street — named Town Center Drive — and directly connected the eastern end of the street to the main pedestrian entrance of its enclosed 790,000-square-foot Valencia Town Center regional mall, which opened in 1992."