Santa Rosa Plaza exterior getting first makeover since 1980s. Here is what’s planned

Mike Chavez has fond memories of Santa Rosa Plaza.

He would often meet up with friends at “Agraria,” the 12-foot-long marble statue of a hand installed in 1996 at the mall’s entrance on B Street in Santa Rosa.

Now, he gets to help shape the mall’s new look — his company, Mike Chavez Painting, is painting the 1983 building’s brick facade white, gray and black.

“To transform the look of this town, it's an absolute honor,” said Chavez, who was born and raised in Santa Rosa.

It will take about 2 1/2 months to complete the job, he said. His crew will start each day about 6 a.m. and work until 2:30 p.m.

“Santa Rosa Plaza is committed to enhancing the shopping center to ensure our guests have an elevated experience every time they shop, play and dine here,” Danielle Nelson, area general manager for Santa Rosa Plaza, said in an emailed statement to The Press Democrat.

“We are working closely with an experienced local painting company to give the shopping center a new, fresh look outside that compliments the upgrades we’re making inside.”

Simon Property Group owns the 698,143-square-foot Santa Rosa Plaza, one of its 162 U.S.-based malls. The company tapped Chavez to usher in the mall’s new look.

Chavez’s company recently painted another landmark retail space in the city, Montgomery Village, totaling 148,000 square feet of wall space.

“It's been really cool for me to do their projects that I've been around my whole life,” he said.

Counter to the recent high-profile exodus at malls in the nation, Simon saw an increase in occupancy in their U.S. malls and premium outlets — from 93.9% to 94.7% — in April though June, according to a report from the publicly traded company.

Santa Rosa Plaza was relatively quiet just before 4 p.m. Tuesday as a handful of shoppers milled about.

“Es muy buena,” Enibey Zaragoza, who has worked in the mall for the last 13 years, said Tuesday.

She said Santa Rosa Plaza is popular, well taken care of and beautiful, especially during the winter holidays.

By 5 p.m., foot traffic had picked up. Families strolled and small groups of students made their way toward the food court and back.

Kathryn Styer Martínez is a reporting intern for the Press Democrat. She can be reached at kathryn.styermartinez@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5337.