City Works to Renovate Vacant Rite Aid Building at Northgate Mall

City staff are planning to renovate the vacant Rite Aid at Northgate Mall to make way for approximately 29,000-square-feet of new retail space.

At a recent Design Review Board meeting, planners presented a conceptual review for the location, which included reconfiguring the parking lot and the nearby two-story parking structures. Although the site was originally scheduled to be demolished, the mall's owner, Santa Monica-based Macerich Co., found several retailers interested in the space.

Rite Aid moved out of the building and relocated to another area of the mall the summer fo 2010, according to mall spokeswoman Brianna Thornton. The building was left vacant and its demolition was considered since the mall's renovation plans began in 2008 due to the building's "poor street orientation and visibility," according to the staff report.

The building's demolition was also to enhance the visual presence of the redesigned shopfronts at the mall, such as Forever 21. Macerich favored reusing the building instead of demolition.

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