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The Irvine Spectrum Center is an outdoor
shopping center A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...
developed by the
Irvine Company The Irvine Company LLC is an American private company focused on real estate development. It is headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with a large portion of its operations centered in and around Irvine, California, a planned city of more ...
, located in the Irvine Spectrum district on the southeast edge of
Irvine, California Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...
. The mall features
Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, a ...
and
Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...
department stores, a
ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...
, and a
Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens i ...
21-screen movie theater. Built over a 10-year period, the first phase of the center opened in 1995 and the second phase followed in 1998. The third phase was completed in 2002. The fourth and fifth phases were built and completed between 2005 and 2006. The mall was used for
establishing shot An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes, the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme-long shot at the beginning of ...
s of the fictional "Mall of Miami" in the
Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
television series ''
Austin and Ally ''Austin & Ally'' is an American Television comedy, comedy television series created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert that aired on Disney Channel from December 2, 2011 to January 10, 2016. The series stars Ross Lynch, Laura Marano, Raini Rod ...
''.


History

Planning of the development of the area began in 1985. In 1989, the Irvine Company completed two 15-story office towers at the site. The retail and entertainment portion of the development, then known as the "Entertainment Center at the Irvine Spectrum Center", began construction in 1993. This first phase of the mall opened in 1995 and consisted of Edwards Cinemas' 21-screen multiplex, Oasis Food Court, and
GameWorks GameWorks is a gaming-based entertainment center with a single location as of 2022, a chain of such businesses. It was owned by then-owner ExWorks Capital, each venue featured a wide array of video game arcades, in addition to full-service bars a ...
. The second phase opened in 1998. The mall's carousel was added in 2001. In 2002, the mall's third phase opened, adding a "Giant Wheel"
Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...
, and the centers two anchor stores,
Robinsons-May Robinsons-May was a chain of department stores operating in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada, from 1993 until 2006. It was created when May Department Stores combined two of its chains, May Company California and J. W. Robinson's cha ...
and
Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, a ...
. Robinsons-May was re-branded as
Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
in 2006 after it was bought by Macy's. Another expansion opened in 2006, adding
Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...
as a third anchor. Smaller expansions have been added since, such as the Clock Court restaurants and a children's play area. 2016 saw the completion of 200 Spectrum Center, an office tower on the northwestern edge of the property, designed by
Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Pei Cobb Freed & Partners is an American architectural firm based in New York City, founded in 1955 by I. M. Pei and other associates.
. At 323 feet tall, 200 Spectrum Center is the tallest building in Orange County. Since 2003, a skating rink has been offered during the winter months, adjacent to the Giant Wheel. Macy's closed its Irvine Spectrum location in 2016.


Regal Cinemas

The Regal Cinemas originally opened as Edwards Cinema 21 and had a 21-screen movie theater that was once the largest movie theater in the western United States. During development, the Edwards company code-named it "The Big One". This remained the movie theater's nickname until other theaters eclipsed its screen count, particularly 30-
screen Screen or Screens may refer to: Arts * Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing * Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry * Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which mul ...
AMC Theatres AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC and known in some countries as AMC Cinemas or AMC Multi-Cinemas) is an American movie theater chain fou ...
megaplex A multiplex is a movie theater complex with multiple screens within a single complex. They are usually housed in a specially designed building. Sometimes, an existing venue undergoes a renovation where the existing auditoriums are split into s ...
at
The Outlets at Orange The Outlets at Orange (former names The Block at Orange and The City Shopping Center) is an open-air outlet mall in the city of Orange, California in North Orange County developed by The Mills Corporation and now owned by Simon Property Group. T ...
. The theater bore over two miles of pink and purple neon lights. On August 21, 2020, the movie theater reopened as Regal Cinemas with a new modern look.


Expansion

The Irvine Company announced in 2016 that the former Macy's building would be torn down and turned into 20 new stores, which were to open in 2018. The new stores have since opened in the southeastern section of the center, featuring a newly designed
Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple TV digital me ...
and 19 new stores and restaurants. The Irvine Spectrum Center continued to expand a new wing on the south side of the center in 2020. The outdoor mall added large stores, restaurants, and cafes such as Sephora, Black Dot Cafe, Apple, and a new children's playground. This $200 million expansion has attracted new revenue for the mall.


Design

The architecture of the property is based on Moroccan architecture, figuring most prominently in the center's second phase. The center is car dependent, with the center itself surrounded by at least 2,300
parking space A parking space, parking place or parking spot is a location that is designated for parking, either paved or unpaved. It can be in a parking garage, in a parking lot or on a city street. The space may be delineated by road surface markings. ...
s. A white
obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...
, which at night features the word "SPECTRUM" vertically projected onto it, is located on the northern corner near the freeway. It contains a cell phone and television tower.


Attractions

In 2002, the Irvine Spectrum Center added a
Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...
called Giant Wheel. It is made by Westech Limited in Italy. Each open-air gondola can seat up to 6 people with a minimum of 2 people. It is located near Nordstrom. It has a carousel fabricated in San Francisco.


Gallery

File:Irvine Spectrum Center (2013) 23.jpg, The stage for ''Disney Magical Holiday Lights'' File:Fountain at Irvine Spectrum.jpg, An illuminated fountain, designed after the Alhambra's
Court of the Lions The Court of the Lions ( es, Patio de los Leones; ar, بهو السباع) or Palace of the Lions ( es, Palacio de los Leones) is a palace in the heart of the Alhambra, a historic citadel formed by a complex of palaces, gardens and forts in Grana ...
File:Irvine Spectrum Center (2013) 18.jpg, The carousel File:Irvine Spectrum Center (2013) 09.jpg, A parking structure entrance showing the number of available spaces


References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Irvine, California Postmodern architecture in California Shopping malls in Orange County, California Shopping malls established in 1995 Tourist attractions in Irvine, California