One Paseo In Del Mar

After years of battling with homeowners, One Paseo has opened in Del Mar.  It is at the corner of Del Mar Heights Rd and El Camino Real.  I guess you could say that the developers won (as they often do), because they got their shopping center, along with hundreds of apartment units.  The community did get adequate parking, which was always an issue.

I stopped by there recently to see it.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Plenty of accessible parking, lots of handicapped parking, lots of electric chargers.  The center itself feels very open.  It's all outdoors, with lots of nice seating areas scattered throughout, including a grassy area for dogs.  Restaurants are in abundance.  Tender Greens, Cava, Shake Shake, a high end Italian restaurant and a steak and ribs restaurant and a sushi restaurant are also there.  There's an ice cream parlor, a bakery (Susie's Cakes) and a candy store.  There's a beauty shop, and numerous small boutiques.  I hope they make it.

I'm not sure who's going to shop at the little boutiques.  If people don't shop there, they can't make it.  The restaurants are paying big rent, and people probably won't come to a shopping center to eat unless they're going to also shop.  I'm thinking about what happened to the Westside Pavillion in West Los Angeles.  There was a big shopping mall, with movies, Macy's and dozens of stores, plus a food court, and developers wanted to build an annex across the street.  After years of battling the neighborhood, the project was built, with a bridge connecting the original center from the new one.  The new center never caught on, and finally closed.  Perhaps the two centers were cannibalizing each other.  I Paseo One is a big success.  The restaurant choices are varied and the atmosphere is delightful.  Can the little independent retail shops survive?  We'll see.