Promenade at Downey celebrating grand opening Saturday

Photo by Pam Lane, DowneyDailyPhotos.com

DOWNEY -- Alberta Development Partners invites the community a grand opening celebration at The Promenade this Saturday, Aug. 13, from 12-4 p.m.

The space-themed event, to be held in Apollo Plaza in front of the Cinemark theater, will honor the historical significance of the site, which during World War II was an aircraft manufacturing facility that morphed into a space engineering and fabrication plant after the war. Many space programs from Apollo through the Space Shuttle era were developed on the site.

“We understand that this site is of significant historical importance to the community, so we have tried to incorporate as much of its story into The Promenade as possible,” said Don Provost, principal of Alberta Development Partners. “We think the grand opening celebration should incorporate some of that history into fun events for everyone in the community.”

There will be a free family entertainment, including face painting, balloon twisting, a magician, live music and even a Virtual Reality Space adventure and an anti-gravity human gyroscope ride.

In addition, some of the restaurants will be offering samples from their menus, and retailers will be providing gift card giveaways and prizes. The first 1,000 people attending the event will receive a recyclable shopping bag stuffed with special offers from retailers at The Promenade at Downey.

There also will be a school supply drive to benefit the Downey Unified School District’s TLC Family Resource Center, an organization that works with children and their families on health issues, child abuse concerns, family instability and parenting skills. Donors will receive a coupon for $10 off of a $50 purchase at Famous Footwear.

Retailers that have recently opened in the 656,000-sq. ft. shopping center include Ulta, Dress Barn, Famous Footwear, Carters and Benihana. TJ Maxx Home Goods is slated to open Aug. 21.

Alberta is developing The Promenade in partnership with Industrial Realty Group LLC, a real estate development and investment firm specializing in the acquisition, development and management of commercial and industrial real estate across the country; PCCP, LLC,  a provider of commercial real estate debt and equity capital for middle-market real estate projects throughout the United States; and Silverpeak Real Estate Partners, a privately held real estate investment advisory business that acquires and manages real estate on behalf of commingled funds, separate accounts and for its own account.