Compiled by Christopher Hannigan
A $20 million expansion of Lexus of Westminster is nearly done. Last year, the dealership added a service center. By January, a two-story showroom and office is set to open. The 32,000-square-foot showroom replaces a 16-year-old, 18,000-square-foot building that was demolished in March. The showroom development, valued at $10 million, is being done by KNS Construction.
Laguna Hills-based DBN Development LLC is awaiting approval from the city and the California Coastal Commission to redevelop a Depression-era dance hall at 140 Avenida Pico. Locals know the building as the “casino building,” as dance halls once were referred to as. DBN lost out on a bigger redevelopment project in downtown to Lab Holding LLC, developer of The Lab shopping center in Costa Mesa.
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Lab Holding plans to redevelop a part of North Beach with a hotel and shops. DBN went ahead and bought the historic building from Richard Lee, who has operated the China Healthways Institute in the building. DBN’s plans call for colonial Spanish-style condominiums, some shops and underground parking. The plan’s controversial given the history of the casino building, one of the oldest in the city. Meanwhile, Lab Holding and the city plan to hold public workshops on plans to redevelop North Beach. The workshops are set for mid-November.
Upgrades continue at Stadium Promenade at Katella Avenue and Main Street. Contractor SD Deacon Corp. of Newport Beach cleared the way for an interior road and is sprucing up the entrance to the Century Theatres with landscaping and other improvements. Three tenants are due in 2007: Johnny Carino’s Italian Restaurant, a drive-through Starbucks and the Lazy Dog Cafe, the second location for the Westminster restaurant by Thomas Simms, founder of Tustin-based Mimi’s Cafe. Johnny Carino’s is set to take 7,000 square feet facing Katella. Lazy Dog Cafe is taking the space formerly leased by Gordon Biersch Brewery & Restaurant.
Out with the sweets, in with the meat. On-site builders of San Fernando is under way on conversion of a former Krispy Kreme at 2575 N. Tustin St. to a Chick-fil-A drive-through restaurant,the third one in OC for the Atlanta-based chain. The other two are in Irvine and Santa Ana.
The Dorado Senior Apartments on Stanton Avenue recently opened. The $28 million complex has 148 units for renters who are older than 55. The complex sits on 2.4 acres and replaced a strip mall. Simpson Housing Solutions and nonprofit LINC Housing, both of Long Beach, worked with Los Angeles-based Meta Housing Corp. to develop the apartments. The project was financed with loans of $1.2 million from the county of Orange, Buena Park and other sources.
Crevier BMW is nearing the end of its expansion at 1500 Auto Mall Drive. The $40 million, 250,000-square-foot expansion is set to wrap up by year’s end. Construction crews are working to finish Crevier’s new car showroom. A five-story parking structure, to store 800 vehicles, is in the works.
A street widening and new traffic lights are done as part of a widening of Crown Valley Parkway. Landscaping, paving and new sidewalks are next. The $17.5 million project calls for widening the street to eight lanes from the eastern city boundary just past Jardines. Turn lanes are planned for Mission Hospital Medical Center and the Shops at Mission Viejo. Monuments of changeable artwork are slated to be included.
