City officials have approved 480,000 square feet of stores and condominiums along Garden Grove Boulevard. The Garden Grove Galleria, being developed by Arcadia-based Garden Grove Galleria LLC, is set for land that used to house an auto dealership east of the Ramada Plaza Hotel near Brookhurst Street. The eight-story project calls for shops and restaurants on lower floors and 66 condos on the top three. The first four floors are set to have about 130,000 square feet of commercial space and a four-story parking garage in back. The fifth floor also is set to go for parking. City planners are going over final plans for the project. The developer hopes to break ground this month and finish by late 2008.
Construction is under way on the South Brea Lofts, a condo project with shops underneath along Brea Boulevard. The project, being developed by Newport Beach’s CWI Development Inc., broke ground in March at the site of a former strip mall. Plans call for 47 condos and 7,000 square feet of retail space. About 37 of the condos are set to be live/work units with office or retail space on the first floor and living space above. Ten of the condos are set to be designated as affordable housing. A quirk: The condos come with small electric vehicles for residents to use for trips around town. They go about 30 mph when fully charged. The lofts are set to be done early next year.
A 13,800-square-foot CVS/Pharmacy is set for 2200 N. Harbor Blvd., the site of a former Coco’s Bakery Restaurant that’s been empty since it closed in 2003. The site is across from St. Jude Medical Center. Rhode Island’s CVS Corp. bought the land about one year ago for an estimated $5 million. Irvine’s KZ Holdings LLC, which has worked on other pharmacies for CVS, is managing the project. Property owners on nearby Balboa Road signed a pact with the city to convert the street from a public road to a private one to allow for parking and other building requirements. Several other retailers looked at the former Coco’s building, which recently was razed. Some developers were interested in putting medical offices there. Only CVS and rival Walgreens Co. made any offers. Grading is set to start soon. CVS hopes to open later this year or early in 2007.
A Craftsman-style shopping center has started going up at the site of a former Kmart, which was razed in 2005. The Craftsman style was adopted as a standard by the city for new buildings in the area. The Buchheim family owns the 15-acre site and is developing the shopping center along with partner Greg McClelland of GDM Properties. Plans call for restaurants and shops along with a 104,456-square-foot Home Depot with a 33,634-square-foot garden center. Other tenants include Chinese restaurant Mr. Wok, Baskin-Robbins and Rite Price Pharmacy. Upgrades are being done on existing buildings that house a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and a Wachovia bank. Plans also call for a parking lot link to the adjacent Twin Peaks Plaza shopping center. The Home Depot is set to open in early November. The other shops are set to debut in October.
City officials are looking to develop the city’s North Beach area,home to the Ole Hanson Beach Club community center as well as San Clemente’s Metrolink station,into a hotspot for visitors. Several projects are planned for the area. Shaheen Sadeghi, owner of Costa Mesa’s The Camp and The Lab shopping centers, is talking with the city about developing a shopping center, hotel and some condos. Sadeghi’s Lab Holdings LLC was tapped as the area’s main developer. Another project proposed for the area: a boutique hotel with 50-plus rooms. A plan to redevelop the site of the Miramar Theater has been proposed. That could set the stage for a conflict with preservations. A four-story building with homes and commercial space would take the place of the historic theater.
Irvine-based developer Brandywine Homes has broken ground for its 15-acre Renaissance Plaza, a housing and retail development on Beach Boulevard. The project calls for 106 townhomes and 82 condos that are being built by the Irvine-based homebuilding arm of Britain’s Taylor Woodrow PLC. The first 10 condos are set to be done by October. The rest of the homes are expected in the next year. The project calls for 18,500 square feet of retail space. Brandywine is talking with the city about another mixed-use project on Beach similar to Renaissance Plaza. The developer hasn’t submitted an application for the project yet. The city expects one within a few months.
