Westminster Mall (Westminster CA)

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Westminster Mall (Westminster CA)

Post by Retailuser »

Does anyone know what is going on with that mall. I no longer live in the area (now in Chandler AZ) but when I lived in Huntington Beach CA I was noticing that mall going down hill badly (it seemed sad to me). Has it improved or is it still a sad mall? How many empty spaces are in it currently?
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Re: Westminster Mall (Westminster CA)

Post by storewanderer »

The mall is full of vacant spaces, many more now than before COVID, but still has some things. There is a group of developers who want to convert it into a mixed use development. They go to the city leaders with that "live work play" concept that city leaders seem to drool over.

Whether or not the plans play out remain to be seen. But I think they have a much better shot at making it work in Westminster, than in some other places (like Reno).
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Re: Westminster Mall (Westminster CA)

Post by Retailuser »

Wow.
There were a lot of empty spaces when I left the area in 2017.
Cannot be good for the mall.
Is Bella terra still doing good?
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Re: Westminster Mall (Westminster CA)

Post by storewanderer »

Retailuser wrote: January 29th, 2023, 10:36 am Wow.
There were a lot of empty spaces when I left the area in 2017.
Cannot be good for the mall.
Is Bella terra still doing good?
Much better tenant mix at Bella Terra that draws in significantly more customers. I'd argue it is over capacity.
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Re: Westminster Mall (Westminster CA)

Post by ClownLoach »

Westminster Mall is in a holding pattern and will probably take a decade to rebuild as the new "Downtown Westminster" area. City of Westminster just approved a mixed use redevelopment of Westminster Mall. I've seen various sketches showing everything from the expected apartments to demolishing the Sears wing and replacing with an office tower to a sketch showing an obvious TopGolf replacing Best Buy/former BRU/all the way to the side of Macy's. It does still show a much reduced traditional indoor mall mainly just connecting Target, JCPenney and Macy's. Since they're all relatively close together versus the Sears building far to the east this would probably eliminate 80% of the mall space. The current mall is 1.3 million square feet; the revamped one drops to 600K of retail. Since Target and JCP are each around 150K and the Macy's is currently taking about 200K that basically leaves 100K or like I said a tiny fraction of the mall remains. Looks like the Best Buy goes away too as it is now owned by Kaiser Permanente so assuming they will build a facility there as part of the mixed use. For some reason the only thing that has been constant in the changing plans has been Target staying intact (despite the fact that the center would probably be better off with a traditional flat 1 story Target in a better location) and the Best Buy going away. Arguably the Target and Best Buy are the only tenants left doing any measurable volume.

https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/bu ... rk%20space

Nothing to indicate that this complete revamp won't happen, the final piece needed was the Sears building sale to go through which has now happened. I don't think they will start construction until the nightmare 405 freeway project is complete regardless of approval status. The property is basically the largest possible development project for miles around because of the fact that it is a 90 acre piece of land in a densifying and growing area. I personally think all of the sketches so far are too mainstream considering the diversity of the area; Asian and Pacific Islanders make up the majority of the Westminster population and I do not see any effort to make this center cater to the community.

I still will never understand why Macy's closed their nice new store (which became Target) and kept the grungy old location at the back of the mall. That Macy's, and it's twin at Lakewood Mall, didn't last a decade. Lakewood was same story, kept a old obsolete building instead, and the brand new one was demolished entirely and replaced by a Costco.

Bella Terra seems to be doing well but has some recent closures including Staples (if they can't keep that location open I think they're doomed) and Bed Bath and Beyond. They also will be redeveloping the West side, demolishing the huge Burlington (I think it's an old JCPenney?) and replacing it with apartments as well as a direct driveway/tunnel from Edinger right into the parking garage which will be a big win. Right now you have to go around the busy Costco gas station to get into the garage from Edinger. They have some new restaurants going up including Fogo De Chao soon. The Beach and Edinger intersection has the highest traffic count in OC. This center will continue to thrive along with the auxiliary centers across Edinger with very busy Michaels, Dicks and Nordstrom Rack locations. Hoping Whole Foods knocks the wall down and expands into the Staples building because their current site (former flagship Circuit City) is too small for the volume it does.
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Re: Westminster Mall (Westminster CA)

Post by Retailuser »

Does anyone know about the proposed housing??? or something else??? that will be taking over the mall space?
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Re: Westminster Mall (Westminster CA)

Post by ClownLoach »

Retailuser wrote: July 15th, 2023, 5:13 pm Does anyone know about the proposed housing??? or something else??? that will be taking over the mall space?
Google is your friend. I have serious doubts that this project will get off the ground. Too much money. Not an attractive area. With interest rates rising and the economy slowing I think this is going to sit for quite a while. Lots of chances to fail because of the fact that there are multiple parties involved (the guy who is pushing the development owns the East and West ends of the mall, but not the whole middle part). The whole idea is that only the Sears and Macy's would be torn down and those ends become offices and apartments, while the whole middle mall remains. But that mall would only be anchored by Target and JCPenney at that point, JCP is struggling there and Target is a multi story converted Macy's (the nicer building they should have kept) which won't run well if the mall is removed. The Target probably brings in more revenue than the whole rest of the mall combined, and they probably are fine with things the way they are as it's a busy and profitable store.

https://www.westminster-ca.gov/our-city ... evelopment

https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/bu ... -food-hall

https://tca-arch.com/work/westminster-mall/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ocregi ... perty/amp/
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Re: Westminster Mall (Westminster CA)

Post by Retailuser »

Yes.
I did not think that it would be a good place for apartments as it way too close to the freeway.
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Re: Westminster Mall (Westminster CA)

Post by ClownLoach »

Retailuser wrote: July 17th, 2023, 10:14 am Yes.
I did not think that it would be a good place for apartments as it way too close to the freeway.
Might as well be light years from the freeway when you compare to other projects nearby. The apartments will be on the East and West ends. The freeway is to the North. Very comparable to the Bella Terra apartment project one off ramp south.

I just don't see this entire concept of keeping the mall but removing two of four anchor properties for apartments working out. The mall itself becomes a barrier to ingress and egress. The only way this project actually makes sense is if they demolish everything (including the Target) and start from scratch. The traffic flow will be a disaster.
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