Beverly Center unveiling big renovation, high-end restaurants

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Beverly Center unveiled a massive $500 million renovation plan Monday, aiming to draw more shoppers with increased food offerings and improved open-air designs.

The shopping complex at Beverly and La Cienega boulevards was built in the early 1980s and currently features a mix of high-end retailers like Gucci, Prada and Louis Vitton as well as more traditional mall brands like H&M, Macy's and Express.

The new design will feature a continuous ribbon of skylights to bring more natural light to the eight-story mall's interior. Mall owner Taubman Centers, Inc. is also adding another valet on West third Street, an advanced "smart parking" system to help speed arrivals and new streetscape and exterior designs.

In an effort to use food to draw more shoppers, the complex will offer nine new restaurants and a food hall called "The Street" headed by celebrity chef Michael Mina.

Among the guests at the unveiling ceremony Monday was Mayor Eric Garcetti, who noted: "The Beverly Center holds a special place in LA's imagination - it's where an entire generation of Angelenos went on first dates, bought prom dresses and met up with friends on weekends."