Major Overhaul Planned for Mall

The languishing Old Towne Mall in Torrance has been purchased for $18.5 million by a Beverly Hills-based firm that plans a major renovation of the shopping center, real estate sources reported Friday.

The new owner, Old Towne Mall Associates, will convert the 11-year-old enclosed mall to an open-air facility, said Richard A. Higgins of South Bay Commercial Real Estate Services Inc., which handled the transaction.

He said changes will be made “top to bottom” to update the mall, which has not measured up to sales-revenue expectations for the valuable site in the heart of Torrance, at 19800 Hawthorne Blvd.

In an interview last week, Torrance Mayor Katy Geissert said the city will welcome the additional sales tax revenues expected from the new 246,000-square-foot mall.

Higgins said the previous owner, Hallwood Group Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio, has agreed to pay for the removal of asbestos from the mall. He said the new owners have not decided whether to retain the carrousel that has been the mall’s centerpiece for years.