Hello Kitty Cafe and Afters Ice Cream are among 30 new additions planned for Spectrum Center

Irvine Spectrum Center will introduce 30 new stores and restaurants over the next year as part of a $200 million reinvestment plan, the Irvine Co. announced this week.

The businesses will be located in four new buildings, spanning 137,000 square feet, that are being constructed in the wake of the shuttering of a 140,000-square-foot Macy’s in early 2016.

As part of the announcement, 14 businesses were highlighted to open over the next year in the new space. The remaining 16 tenants will likely be presented some time within the next few months, said Butch Knerr, president of Irvine Co. Retail Properties.

The new businesses will include a two-story H&M, Hello Kitty Cafe, 85ºC Bakery Café, Stance, Afters Ice Cream, BLK Coffee, Gorjana, SoHa Living, The Denim Lab, Perverse Sunglasses, SST&C, Robata Wasa, Concrete Rose and Falasophy.

Many of the businesses will open during a grand opening event on Aug. 18, though some may move in next year.

The Irvine Co. made it a point to seek big retailers as well as smaller local boutiques like the San Clemente-based Stance, which sells uniquely-designed socks.

“We were very specific in curating the mix of tenants we are adding,” Knerr said Wednesday afternoon. “Out of the 14 businesses we have announced, only two of them, Sephora and H&M, are national retailers. The rest of them are local and regional tenants that are extremely hot right now. In the shopping center industry, you have to be unique. Adding this local flavor is key in our opinion.”

Knerr highlighted the success of local businesses 85ºC Bakery Café and Afters Ice Cream within the region. The former serves coffee, tea and smoothies along with various breads and pastries, though the bakery is well-known for its sea salt iced coffee. Afters serves ice cream sandwiches with doughnuts as the bread.

Apart from the business additions, $24 million of the reinvestment money is being spent on new paseos with fountains, olive trees and heritage pines to be built around the Spectrum along with open-air lounging areas. A play structure called a Lucky Climber will be built near the pop-jet fountain for kids to play.

The revamping of the common areas is expected to be done by the end of the year.

Also, a more than 1,500-space parking structure will be constructed later in the year on the south end of the Spectrum, near Target.

“For somebody coming into the shopping center later this year, it is going to feel like a brand new center,” Knerr said.

benjamin.brazil@latimes.com

Twitter:@benbrazilpilot