RETAIL : Renovation to Expand MainPlace/Santa Ana Nears Completion
The $7-million renovation of the MainPlace/Santa Ana shopping mall is now more than half complete, an expansion that will add a new wing with 32,500 square feet of leaseable space.
The construction will add 20 new stores by the time it is completed in November. In addition, a 150,000-square-foot May Co. department store is planned to open next spring. The May Co. will be the mall’s fourth anchor store, joining Nordstrom, Bullocks and Robinson’s. The expansion will increase the size of the mall, one of the newest in Orange County, to about 200 retail establishments.
Sandwiched between the twin pillars of Orange County consumerism--South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa to the south and Brea Mall to the north--MainPlace is planning to go upscale as well. It is already the third largest mall in the county in terms of sales, the most recent figures available from the State Board of Equalization.
Like some competitors, it has also tapped into the tourist trade. The mall operates a shuttle bus to Anaheim area hotels. The move has been so popular that it has been expanded to include two shuttles, serving a total of 22 hotels.
