South Shore Shopping Center | Alameda, California

Alameda South Shore Center(ASSC) is a 594,000-square-foot, open-air retail center on Alameda Island, California. The center is located at the intersection of Park St. and Otis Dr. and with a small amount of frontage abutting Shoreline Drive and the San Francisco Bay at the southwest corner. The center originally opened in 1958, and has been renovated over time. The most recent renovation was completed in 2010. 

The site is 47 acres and is comprised of a core area with 7 large multi-tenant buildings organized along “pedestrian paseos”. The main paseo runs north-south and is intersected by secondary paseos running east-west. The intersections of the paseos are marked by 3 plazas. All of the core buildings as well as an additional pad building to the west were updated during the last renovation. There are an additional 11 buildings on the perimeter of the site to both the north, south and east that were not updated during the last renovation and are of varying vintage, style, and quality. 

The South Shore site is defined by three main areas –the site perimeter, the core perimeter and the core paseos. The maps shown below are our observations. Our overall goal was to enhance customer experience and restore Alameda South Shore Center’s distinguished history as a gathering place for local and regional patrons. 

Sketch illustrating updated and unique storefronts with lighting and new landscape features.

After becoming familiar with the South Shore site as a firm we created a list of recommendations which included storefront design, updated color palettes,  landscape features, lighting, seating and outdoor furniture and interactive features. We also worked to develop an enhanced signage program for individual stores as well as the overall way-finding signage program.   

Sketches of some of the proposed enhanced areas and features including communal areas and focal entry points.