If you moved, or were born, in Southwest Riverside County in the current century, Promenade Temecula, formerly The Promenade in Temecula, has always been there.
Those of us who have called this region home since way back in the 20th century recall a time when sheep grazed on the open land at the corner of Winchester and Ynez roads. However in the 1990s, as more people moved to the region, a clamor arose from residents for more shopping opportunities. The closest shopping malls at the time were in Escondido and Moreno Valley.
Plans to build the Murrieta Springs Mall, located at the “Golden Triangle,” had been in the works since the early 1990s. However, little progress had been made on the project. Competition between the recently incorporated cities —- Temecula in 1989, Murrieta in 1991 —- to attract retailers, who brought both jobs and sales tax revenue, was intense.
In 1995 Temecula staff was tasked by the city council to find someone to build a shopping center on the property at Winchester and Ynez roads.
Ron Bradley, then Temecula’s city manager, had done a project with Cleveland-based developer Forest City when he held a similar post in La Mesa. Bradley reached out to the developer, who built shopping malls across the country, to gauge their interest. Forest City needed to be convinced Temecula had the funds to build the infrastructure the mall needed and enough people – shoppers — to support a regional center.
When those discussions began, Temecula and Murrieta’s combined population was about 73,000 people.
In 1996 Forest City entered into escrow to buy the 200-acre site. Retail store executives, along with Forest City officials, flew into Ontario Airport for a one-day meeting with Temecula officials.
Another meeting was arranged, this one at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, where retail executives were wined and dined and sold on Temecula. Helicopters took off from the golf course there and flew over Southwest County to show the executives what was already built in the city, and what was to come.
A deal was struck and the ground-breaking ceremony for the regional mall was held on Nov. 4, 1998. Officials and future shoppers gathered under a tent in the middle of a large dirt field on the site for the event.
Those attending were invited to return about a year later when the grand opening of what would initially be a 766,500 square foot mall with major anchors J.C. Penny, Sears and Robinsons-May.
While the mall was being built, Temecula spent about $6.8 million widening and improving the surrounding streets. Another $11.5 million was spent on the Overland Overpass which spans Interstate 15 and leads to the mall. The roadwork was completed and the bridge dedicated within days of the mall’s grand opening.
Robinsons-May jumped the gun and opened its new store in August 1999. For the other stores, the grand opening took place on Oct. 27, 1999. On that day trumpets sounded, cannons shot confetti into the air, a ribbon was cut, and thousands of shoppers streamed inside where about 80 of the malls 90 shops were open for business. By Christmas all the stores had opened.
In the quarter century since it opened, Promenade Temecula has expanded twice nearly doubling its square footage. As the retail shopping environment has changed, some stores have left, while new ones have been added.
For better – and some may say worse – the opening of Promenade Temecula 25 years ago marked a major change in the history of this region.
