Just as residential villages have their own unique identities, retail centers on The Irvine Ranch® are designed to achieve a strong overall character and sense of place that endures as tenants come and go.
The company is committed to the long-range planning and discipline it takes to create retail centers that are visually appealing and provide not just a place to shop, but also a place to experience.
The Irvine Company focuses on creating and managing retail environments that fill market functions, while serving the needs of neighborhood, community and regional consumers. Every shopping center shares a common commitment, serving as a public gathering space, as well as a high-quality pedestrian environment.
By carefully working with local and regional residents, the Irvine Company continues to meet consumer needs. There are three kinds of retail centers on The Ranch – neighborhood, community and regional.
Neighborhood centers are carefully integrated into the fabric of villages. They serve the daily shopping and service needs of village residents as well as act as an identifying focal point.
Community centers are slightly larger than neighborhood centers and usually include a variety of bigger specialty shops. Located on thruways, community centers generally benefit several villages.
Regional centers offer a wide variety of specialty shops and department stores. Because they draw consumers from across Orange County, careful consideration of the locations of these centers typically is determined by ease of access and relationship to freeways.
For more information about our retail centers, visit: ShopIrvineCompany.com
CLASSICAL DESIGN
The major retail centers on The Irvine Ranch® reflect traditional, classical designs. The major influence is Mediterranean, with such features as tile roofs, courtyards, columns and arches. The classical designs ensure that the centers will age gracefully.
COMMUNITY GATHERING SPOTS
Think of it as an outdoor living room. When people go to a retail center on The Irvine Ranch®, they find not only a great variety of stores to meet their shopping needs, but also gathering places that invite them to relax and socialize. By providing areas with comfortable seating, tables with umbrellas, fountains and even outdoor fireplaces, designers of retail centers on The Ranch create public spaces that give retail centers a neighborhood feeling.
TENANT DESIGN REVIEW
To maintain continuity in design and preserve the quality of retail centers, the Irvine Company has established design guidelines for its retail tenants as well as a review process to ensure that all development within its retail centers meets the requirements set forth in these guidelines. The design review process covers such broad areas as site planning, architectural design, landscaping design, and exterior lighting and signing, as well as tenant improvements and renovations.
Just as historic buildings are preserved in a place like SoHo, the overall design framework developed by skilled planners at the Irvine Company establishes the character of the retail center as a whole. Tenants create their own store designs with careful attention to the company’s design guidelines to make sure that their plans are in harmony with the overall design concepts that give each retail center a distinct identity and strong sense of place.
REINVESTMENT
One of the company’s main objectives is to ensure that our centers stay current and continue to be responsive to shifting consumer demands. To do this, we are enhancing the outdoor “people places” at our centers so that they are welcoming places for people to gather. This work includes adding new trees and potted plants, providing new outdoor tables and chairs and installing new signs to direct visitors, along with a wide variety of other improvements.