Fashion Island unveils $100 million renovation project

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Ritzy Fashion Island in Newport Beach -- already home to Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s and Juicy Couture -- today announced a massive renovation project to upgrade the beachfront shopping center.

Among the additions: a Nordstrom store, slated to open April 2010; a Dean & DeLuca gourmet grocery; hand-carved fountains and a 24-foot-high water wall; new cafes and outdoor seating areas; and more parking spaces.

The project will cost more than $100 million and is expected to be completed by mid-2011, according to executives at the Irvine Co., which owns the open-air shopping center.

‘It’s important for all retail centers to reinvent themselves over time,’ said Keith Eyrich, president of Irvine Co. Retail Properties, in an interview. ‘People are going to see something they wouldn’t see anywhere else.’

-- Andrea Chang