A $100 million expansion is announced for the Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Cabazon, adding up to 60 stores and hundreds of jobs
BY TIFFANY RAY- The Press Enterprise - Published: 20 March 2012 03:48 PM
The Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Cabazon is launching a $100 million expansion project that will add more than 158,000 square feet of retail space and a four-story parking garage.
It’s estimated the project will generate 400 to 500 new retail jobs and will increase the size of the outlet mall by about 30 percent.The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 Tuesday to approve a plot plan for the expansion. Supervisor John F. Tavaglione was not present.
Work is expected to begin this summer and to be completed by 2014.
The two-year construction project is estimated to bring in as many as 500 construction jobs, according to center representatives.
The outlets already are considered among the most productive by owner Simon Property Group; county officials said the addition to could boost its taxable sales by almost $70 million annually.
The addition would bring total square footage of the outlet center to about 650,000 square feet and create enough new space for 60 or more stores.
Michele Rothstein, a spokeswoman for Simon’s Premium Outlets division in New Jersey, said the parking structure will be built first on land adjacent to the property’s east wing. The new retail space will be constructed on what is currently a parking lot in the center of the east wing.
The project will create more than 1,100 new parking spaces, for a total of more than 2,500.
A local landowner raised objections to the project Tuesday, citing concern about traffic and noise in local neighborhoods.
Representatives for the center said street improvements, including new signals and road extensions, were included in the plan to help ease traffic at the site.
With approvals in place, the company now can focus on lining up retailers for the site, Rothstein said.
Some existing retailers likely will relocate to larger locations, and many new names will be added.
“We want to offer something for everyone,” she said.
Expansion mode
Desert Hills is one of four expansion projects announced last summer by Simon Property Group Inc., the Indianapolis-based owner of the retail center. The company, which owns more than 390 retail centers worldwide, also is expanding outlet centers in Florida, Illinois and Washington.
Rothstein said the Cabazon expansion is a response to consumer and merchant demand.
With its mix of upscale names — including Burberry, Prada, Gucci, Giorgio Armani and, recently, Versace — Desert Hills is “desirable and distinctive,” she said. It’s also a highly productive property, generating sales of nearly $1,000 per square foot, she said.
“Desert Hills Premium Outlets has always been one of our star properties,” Rothstein said.
Even during the recession, the center remained a draw, she added. Though some outlet mall customers stopped shopping, other consumers turned to outlet malls in search of value. The center also saw more international visitors, she said.
Sales-tax producer
Supervisor Marion Ashley, who represents the county’s fifth district that includes Cabazon, said the outlet malls — there are two in Cabazon — are the single biggest sales tax generators in the unincorporated portions of the county. People visit them from as far as 40 or 60 miles away. Some come by bus, combining a visit to the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa with lunch and a trip to the shops.
The expansion will be an additional boon, with no out-of-pocket cost to the county, he said.
“This is a great economic stimulus.”
Ashley said Simon has been working with county economic development officials on plans for the expansion since 2007. The company’s decision to pull the trigger on it now is a good economic sign, he said.
Cabazon has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, so the jobs are needed, he said. Ashley plans to recommend a job fair and to encourage the center to hire local residents.
“This is going to be a tremendous boost to the county coffers overall.”
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