Los Angeles-based Pacific Theatres Corp. has broken ground on a $60 million, 275,000-square-foot retail complex on the site of a former Anaheim drive-in.
The complex, called Anaheim Gateway, is set to be anchored by a 160,000-square-foot Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse. Construction is under way on the store, which is set to open this summer.
The Anaheim office of Citrus Heights, Calif.-based S.D. Deacon Corp. started on $2.8 million worth of initial work in late January, according to Ruth Gurnari, S.D. Deacon’s director of development. The contractor is clearing the 30-acre site and adding plumbing, electricity, landscaping and other basics.
Pacific Theatres hasn’t signed any other tenants yet, though restaurants and a health club are possible. Just don’t expect a movie theater at the former Anaheim Drive In Theatre on Lemon Street near the Fullerton border.
“Just because it was once a theater, does not mean that’s the best future business for the property,” said Neil Haltrecht, president of Robertson Properties Group, the theater operator’s real estate arm, which recently changed its name from Pacific Theatres Realty.
That wasn’t always the case. Back in the mid-1990s, Pacific Theatres submitted a proposal to Anaheim officials for a 25-screen megaplex on the site. The plan never took off as a rush of other megaplexes went up in Orange County,including the AMC Fullerton 20 less than a mile away.
With the overbuilt movie theater industry in the midst of a shakeout, Anaheim Gateway is part of a move by Pacific to find other uses for its holdings.
“They evaluate the property and decide what to do with it,” said Karen Diehl a spokeswoman for Robertson Properties Group. “Some are sold off to homebuilders. Some are developed as retail centers and some are developed as industrial campuses.”
In the past decade, the Anaheim site has served as a roller hockey rink and more recently as a swap meet. After completing a demographic study, Pacific opted for stores on the land along the Riverside (91) Freeway.
“With its access to the interstate, we saw it as a great site for destination shoppers,” Haltrecht said.
Lowe’s will be opening up directly across from a Fullerton shopping center where troubled rival HomeBase Inc. of Irvine recently shuttered a home improvement warehouse.
The Anaheim Drive In Theater opened in 1955 with a single screen. In 1977, Pacific Theaters added two more screens and operated the drive-in until 1990 when years of slowing ticket sales brought its closure. For the next decade, the site operated as a swap meet, which replaced “Drive In” on the marquee.
At a time when other movie chains are struggling, Pacific Theaters is expanding. The company is developing the Cinerama Dome retail and entertainment center in Hollywood. Earlier this month, Pacific Theatres struck an initial pact with Culver City to operate a nine- to 12-screen multiplex in the city. The privately held company owns and operates more than 400 movie screens in California and Hawaii.
For many in the area, the redevelopment of the former Anaheim drive-in marks the end of an era.
“I hated to see it close,” said one long-time Fullerton resident and former drive-in moviegoer. “It’s where my friends and I hung out during our high school years. It’s where I had my first kiss.” n
