Tustin Market Place

Tustin Market Place (sometimes referred to as the "Tustin/Irvine Market Place" or simply "The TMP") is an outdoor mall located in Tustin, California and Irvine, California. The Market Place opened in 1988, and it is located on Jamboree Road at the Interstate 5 in Tustin/Irvine. Its stores include Circuit City, Best Buy, Linens 'n Things, Barnes & Noble, Lowe's Hardware, Babies R' Us, and two Edwards Theaters.

Design

The Tustin Market Place covers an area of 1.6 million square feet. The Market Place has more than 120 stores, restaurants, cafes and theaters, and is a rare example of a late-century Brutalist design. Designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta, it consists of monumental but extremely simplified cubic forms, with anchor stores marked by massive towers roughly convert|70|ft|m|0 high displaying the store name. The center is also unique in that all the store signs are displayed in neon. The buildings are arranged in a ring around a large central series of parking lots and fast-food restaurants. The center on the whole has a "desert" look to it, with parking lots shaded under groves of date palms, and extensive rock landscaping around the perimeter of the center. The parking lots are illuminated by arrays of xenon floodlights set inside the peaks of convert|100|ft|m|-1|sing=on-high towers. The buildings themselves are uniformly surfaced in bright orange, purple, and pink stucco.

History

The Tustin Market Place was constructed in three phases.

Phase I

Construction of Phase I began in 1988 on the Tustin side of Jamboree Road, and this phase was opened in three distinct sections. The first section opened in 1988, with convert|400000|sqft|m2|-4 of space allotted for home improvement and furnishings/decor retail stores. The second section of Phase I opened in 1989, with convert|240000|sqft|m2|-3 of soft goods, apparel and electronics stores. The third and final section of Phase I opened in 1990, with convert|120000|sqft|m2|-3 of restaurants, services and a six-screen Edwards Theater.

Phase II

In 1996, Phase II of the Tustin Market Place opened on the Irvine side of Jamboree Road. This phase expanded the Market Place by convert|420000|sqft|m2|-3, adding stores, restaurants and a 10-screen Edwards Stadium Theater.

Phase III

Construction of Phase III followed this, also on the Irvine side of Jamboree Road, opening in 1999. Another convert|420000|sqft|m2|-3 of retail space was added to the Market Place in this phase, which included home improvement and furnishings stores, a large food court, and a Target store.

External links

* [http://www.shopthemarketplace.com/ Official website]