Plan to Build Pedestrian Promenade Advances

City boosters have approved a plan to allow a developer to close off a portion of a street that runs behind the Shops at Palos Verdes to make room for the Avenue of the Peninsula, a pedestrian promenade that developers plan to build in addition to revitalizing the ailing mall.

Atlanta-based Cousins Properties announced last month that it wanted to purchase the peninsula’s only shopping mall and transform it into an open-air retail center with an adjoining outdoor plaza. Cousins officials said the purchase of the mall was contingent on the City Council’s permission to close off the street.

The City Council voted Tuesday to close off the street, providing that Cousins meets conditions such as obtaining the proper permits, providing evidence to spend at least $10 million to improve the mall and pledging $500,000 for items such as utility relocation and grading for the plaza.

Additionally, Cousins must secure a tenant for the 40,000-square-foot former Robinsons-May site, which closed a year ago after years of lackluster sales.

If Cousins meets all these conditions within three years, the city will record the closure of Deep Valley Drive, said City Manager Doug Prichard. Cousins officials have said that they would like to complete the project in two years.

“There is lots of excitement for seeing this project move forward,” Prichard said.