Compiled by Chris Hannigan
A shopping center with 112,000 square feet of stores, offices and restaurants is going up at Jamboree Road and Barranca Parkway. San Gabriel-based Diamond Jamboree Ltd., part of shopping center developer Diamond Devel-opment, is putting up Diamond Jamboree, which is set to have a 25,000-square-foot H Mart, a Korean grocery store that’s part of HAR Grand Corp. of Woodside, N.Y. The developer is talking with other potential tenants. A three-story parking garage is in the works. The center is going up on land rezoned from industrial use. Some 10,000 apartments and mid-rise condominiums also are planned for the area. Moorfield Construction of San Clemente is set to finish the buildings at Diamond Jamboree by late 2007. Then retailers should start work on their stores.
Glendora-based Armstrong Garden Center is remodeling its store in Culver Plaza. The makeover is set to expand the store to 1,800 square feet, with added room for storage and more plants, patio furniture, fountains and other garden items. The project, which started in December and is set to be done by March, is valued at $1 million. Armstrong Garden Centers has 10 other stores in the county.
Exercise chain 24-Hour Fitness plans to open a gym in Westminster Center. The city recently gave the go-ahead to Houston-based Weingarten Realty Investors, which owns the center. Weingarten has spent $58 million to buy and fix up Westminster Center. New tenants since Weingarten took over include Anna’s Linens, Dollar Tree, Quizno’s, L & L; Hawaiian BBQ and Jamba Juice. Other retailers and service providers include Home Depot, Albertsons, Rite Aid, Edwards Cinema, Petco, Bank of America, Hollywood Video, Starbucks and 40 more stores and restaurants.
The city has approved plans for Lake Forest-based Advanced Real Estate Services Inc. to move ahead on San Juan Meadows, a 148-acre housing development along the San Diego (I-5) Freeway, east of the San Juan Creek exit. The plan includes 160 senior apartments and 275 houses. Advanced Real Estate is the owner and developer. It bought the site from a private owner, who operated Forester Landfill on 35 acres. The former landfill section is set to be open space with houses around it. Advanced Real Estate plans on doing the grading and providing finished lots. Then it may consider teaming with a builder or selling lots to individual builders. Grading should be done by late 2007. Across the freeway, Advanced also owns another 18-acre site, which it plans to develop. It’s now considering possible uses and plans to submit a proposal by June or July.
A Walgreens pharmacy is set to move into the building previously occupied by music chain Tower Records, which closed down five stores in OC amid its bankruptcy liquidation. The store, custom built for Tower, is unique given its two-story size, larger than a typical pharmacy. Walgreen Co. hasn’t said how it plans to use the space. CIM Group Inc. in Los Angeles owns the Brea building and couldn’t be reached for comment.
As early as June, the California Coastal Commission could review a proposal for a seawater desalination plant to be built by Poseidon Resources Inc. Poseidon has been working steadily to garner support for the project, which would turn seawater into drinking water. The Orange County Taxpayers Association, Orange County Business Council, Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce, California Regional Water Quality Control Board and some 8,000 Surf City residents support the project. If all goes as planned, construction on the project could begin as early as 2008.
