Since reopening last month, Santa Monica Place has drawn crowds that have surprised even owner Macerich Co.

Cars on their way to the mall have backed up traffic on the Santa Monica (10) Freeway. And getting a parking space on weekends is a test of drivers’ patience.

But the beneficiary of all that success is not just Macerich, but the Third Street Promenade next to it as well as the rest of the city’s downtown, where shopping had slowed during the recession.

“It was absolutely the shot in the arm downtown was looking for,” said Kathleen Rawson, chief executive of Bayside District Corp., a public-private company that manages downtown Santa Monica. “Some merchants were cautiously optimistic in the beginning, but I think overall the consensus is that it’s been a very positive month.”

The renovation thoroughly reworked the 550,000-square-foot mall, essentially making it an extension of the Promenade by removing its roof and adding a third-floor deck for open-air dining. The mall has new anchors, a Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s, and retailers include Kitson L.A., Louis Vuitton and 7 for All Mankind.

In some ways, the renovation reversed the relationship of the Promenade and the 30-year-old mall; the Promenade was the one that drew the most shoppers.

The Promenade has remained popular since it was redeveloped in the late 1980s, but merchants and city officials have begun considering ways to keep it fresh.

Its aging movie theaters have long been considered a weak point, losing moviegoers to other Westside complexes such as the Landmark, the Rave Motion Pictures 18 or AMC’s Century City 15.

Last month, the City Council gave city officials the green light to begin negotiations with AMC Entertainment Inc., which owns all three Promenade movie theaters, about possible upgrades. The company is exploring closing the AMC Broadway 4 and making over the AMC Santa Monica 7 with stadium seating. It is also proposing to build an 83,000-square-foot, 12-screen complex in the 1300 block of Fourth Street, at the site of a city-owned parking lot.

In late 2008, downtown property owners voted to begin paying about $3.4 million in new annual fees for maintenance, marketing and other services designed to promote downtown shopping.

“The Promenade’s 20 years old,” Rawson said. “Some of our capital needs to be replaced. Stuff breaks and you gotta fix it.”

Keeping it going

Macerich executives estimate 100,000 people a day came to Santa Monica Place during its opening weekend.

Doug Roscoe, the mall’s property manager, said that he hasn’t seen much of a drop-off since.

“I expected a large opening,” Roscoe said. “But the fact that the traffic has been continual and sustained at the level that it’s been has been surprising.”

Mimi Crawley, assistant manager at Third Street Promenade clothing retailer Cotton On, said the store exceeded its August goals thanks in part to the mall’s opening.

“It’s helped business a lot,” she said. “More people are heading down this way, especially because we’re at the end of the Promenade where the mall is.”

However, with tourist season winding down and kids going back to school, even Roscoe expects a temporary drop in traffic before the holiday season. At least one Santa Monica Place store has already seen a small decline.

“It was really good before, but since school started it hasn’t been as busy as we expected,” said Shima Araki, a manager of Angl, a women’s clothing and accessories boutique. “But I guess that’s going on everywhere.”

It remains to be seen whether the mall and the Promenade can transfer the initial buzz into longer-term gains. But Roscoe said he is confident in the prospect.

“The expectation is that we will continue to see the success we’ve seen,” he said.

John Fransen, president of Newport Beach retail consultancy Fransen Co. Inc., is also optimistic, saying that the combination of the renovated mall and the Promenade make the district “the freshest, newest retail,” in shoppers’ minds.

“I can’t see why it wouldn’t continue to be (a success),” Fransen added. “They have a very capable team that can make adjustments.”

Bayside District has already been putting some of its new maintenance fee money to use.

Some $1.2 million a year is dedicated to maintenance such as cleaning parking structures, painting trash cans and repairing benches. Another $1.2 million is for services such as marketing and escorting people to their cars late at night.

The remaining $1 million is reserved for special projects, which Rawson said might be used for light pole replacements or additional marketing.