Compiled by Chris Hannigan
The Planning Commission approved plans for a Walgreens drug store at the La Palma Convenient Center at La Palma Avenue and Valley View Street. Walgreen Co. wanted to run a round-the-clock store and scaled back to 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. after residents voiced concerns. A 2,800-square-foot medical center and 2,800-square-foot flower shop are set to be razed to make way for the 12,800-square-foot Walgreens, which still needs final approval from the City Council. Phoenix-based Evergreen Devco Inc. is in charge of the project, set to start in January with completion expected by the summer. Walgreens plans to lease the building from owner John Whitcombe.
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A condominium development for seniors is going up at Paseo de Valencia and La Plata. San Sebastian is set to have 134 condos built on 3.2 acres for buyers 55 and older. Four stories of condos are set to sit above two levels of underground parking. Newport Beach-based Robert Mayer Corp. and Irvine’s Standard Pacific Corp. are developing San Sebastian. Early work is under way, including laying concrete for the parking lots. The project is expected to finish in late 2007.
Construction of the $14 million Dorothy and Donald Kennedy Wing at Bowers Museum of Cultural Art is on schedule and set to open in February. The 30,000-square-foot wing stands to more than double the museum’s exhibition space. The addition is set to house two exhibits: an Ansel Adams photography collection and art from the Shanghai Museum. A 300-seat auditorium and 500-person meeting room also are part of the expansion.
The city’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services Agency is set to start several projects. They include upgrades to the 10,000-seat Santa Ana Stadium for high school football, the building of a Santiago Wildlife and Wetlands Interpretive Center and an exhibit at the Santa Ana Zoo. Crews are set to replace roofs on buildings at Heritage, Memorial, Madison and Adams parks. A new Saddleback View park is in the works. Bike trails and river landscapes are set to be upgraded.
Work on Bristol Street enters the second of three phases. The city recently received $24 million from the Orange County Transportation Authority to expand Bristol to six lanes from Pine Street to Civic Center Drive.
An 18-month, $12.9 million improvement project for Honda Center is nearing its final phase. Two big video screens at each end of the center’s hockey ice and a new sound system are set to be in place by year’s end. The first phase of improvements include painting the arena and putting up a billboard-style marquee alongside the Orange (57) Freeway. Landscaping and signs were added to the parking lot. The Anaheim Ducks’ training facilities and locker rooms, including team offices, also were renovated. The arena recently changed its name from the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.
An El Torito Grill, part of Cypress-based Real Mex Restaurants Inc., opened earlier this month at 22322 El Paseo in the Plaza El Paseo. The restaurant replaced an Agave Mexican Grill. The opening is part of a push by Real Mex, which is looking to open up to 15 restaurants this year and another 50 in the next five years.
