Rock n’ Realty stars aim spotlight on El Segundo
Bring their star power to downtown El Segundo are Rock & Brew partners Mike Zislis of Shade Hotel, Gene Simmons of Kiss, and Dave Furano of The Studio.
by Sherry Kramer, El Segundo Chamber Chairperson
Both El Segundo’s downtown and its highway districts have received significant votes of confidence from investors this year.
The Downtown attracted national media attentions in early April with the opening of Rock & Brew. The restaurant’s investors include Shade Hotel owner Mike Zislis, rock star Gene Simmons of Kiss and music industry manager Dave Furano, a former president of Bill Graham Presents and founder of The Studio, which is also in El Segundo.
The recent opening of David Schat’s Bakery Café is also helping to make downtown El Segundo a dining destination. Downtown has taken the “Dine, Shop, Play” concept to heart with new banners and a pending special discount program.
On the highway, Plaza El Segundo found a new investor in Federal Realty.
“Growing our West Coast portfolio is a huge goal for us and the purchase of Plaza El Segundo in December 2011 took us one step closer,” said Collette Navarrette, Plaza El Segundo director of marketing. “The 381,000 square foot shopping center is a great addition to our California portfolio and will complement our ownership and tenant relationships on Third Street Promenade, as well as Santana Row in San Jose.”
New Plaza El Segundo businesses include Drybar, which opened in March and is a hot, new salon concept offering no cuts, no color, just blowouts for $35, as well as The Container Store, which is opening next month in the former Borders space.
El Segundo recently hired an economic development analyst to implement the 2012 Economic Development Strategy, which was approved in September 2011. A number of initiatives were identified to spur economic growth. Among those initiatives that have been recently completed are the Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) completed by the Urban Land Institute, and a Retail Site Assessment (RSA) done by Buxton.
TAP brought in industry experts to make recommendations for the Smokey Hollow area. This area was formerly the primary provider of light manufacturing for the neighboring aerospace and refinery industries. The area has since become an incubator area for the creative industry. The TAP made a number of recommendations to encourage the creative industry to relocate their operations to this area.
Buxton was commissioned by the city to identify new retail and restaurant operators who would be good matches, based upon El Segundo’s demographics and psychographics. City representatives will be attending the Western Region International Council of Shopping Centers trade show in May to meet with retailers and developers with the intention of promoting new retail development within the city.
Sherry Kramer, Community Affairs Director of Continental Development Corporation was installed last month as Chair of the El Segundo Chamber of Commerce.