Mall’s Tenants Baffled by Lengthy Renovation : Retail: The Buenaventura center’s owners refuse to say how long the work will last and whether a second floor or a new anchor store will be added.

For nearly two years, construction crews have been drilling, pounding and hammering away at Buenaventura Mall, the 26-year-old regional shopping center in Ventura that is a landmark of western Ventura County.

On the face of it, the crews have made progress, installing attractive glass ceilings and renovating the mall’s center court and west wing. Next, they’re going to refurbish the east wing.

In the minds of many tenants and shoppers, however, the work being done at Buenaventura Mall--the name was changed in August from Buenaventura Plaza--has created something else: a mystery.

Neither the center’s 90 retailers nor members of the general public seem to know the ultimate goal of the building project at the center, situated just off the Ventura Freeway and bordered by Main Street, Mills Road and Telegraph Road.

Tenants--some of whom say their businesses already have been seriously damaged by the lengthy construction project--say they have no idea when the work will end. Some say they have heard it may continue for as long as another four years.

The mystery has been fueled by the attitude of Buenaventura Mall’s owner, the MaceRich Co. of Santa Monica.

The company speaks of negotiations in progress but won’t say whether this means another department store will join the present anchors--JC Penney and the Broadway. Some merchants believe such an addition is needed.

Workers have sunk heavy pylons into the ground throughout much of the mall, but management won’t confirm or deny rumors that a second level of stores will be added to the 825,000-square-foot center.

Most frustrating of all to some tenants and shoppers, MaceRich and Cayse Osterlund, the mall’s manager, will not say when the work will be completed.

“I can’t comment on that,” Osterlund said when asked about a report that completion could be four years away.

In fact, some of Buenaventura’s storekeepers--and some of their customers--are seriously questioning whether the improvements are worth all the dust and din.

Since construction started, at least seven tenants have left the mall. One of those who left did so because “it got so noisy people couldn’t hear us on the phone.”

A tenant who has stayed, Dean Duke, manager of the mall’s Radio Shack, estimates his sales are off 10% due to customer confusion and inconvenience.

Danuta Burke, manager of the Miller’s Outpost in the mall, says she has heard customers complain “about the inside being dusty, and all the hammering and clamoring and detours . . . I’m afraid a lot of people who used to shop here are now going to The Oaks.”

Burke is one of several Buenaventura Mall retailers who worry that they are losing customers to The Oaks Mall, the Thousand Oaks center that is the county’s largest.

Jim Word, manager of the JC Penney store that anchors Buenaventura Mall’s north end, acknowledged having a soft sales month in September, but said, “It’s hard to say whether it was caused by the construction or the economy.”

But, he added: “The construction--especially the problems in the parking lot--hasn’t really helped business.”

Shoppers, too, say they’ve been inconvenienced by the project, which started in February, 1989.

“I still come here occasionally, but I’ve been doing most of my shopping elsewhere since the construction started a couple of years ago,” said Randy Bluhm of Camarillo. “The noise and all that definitely bothers me.”

“One day I had to park by Penney’s and walk a long way to get to the Hallmark store. It was confusing,” Pat Flanagan-Stelling of Ventura said, referring to the parking lot on Mills Road, which until two weeks ago was fenced off to create a storage area for construction equipment and building material.

She said she still shops at Buenaventura, “but not as often as I used to. Now I also go to the Esplanade or The Oaks.”

Buenaventura’s manager, Osterlund, admitted receiving some complaints, but said that’s unavoidable under the circumstances.

“We’ve tried to appease our customers and tenants to the best of our ability,” he said. He added that most of the work which tenants and customers have complained about has been suspended until after the Christmas season.

Osterlund maintained that despite the soft economy, business at the center has improved this year. But he refused to give figures--and a number of tenants questioned his report.

“I can say that our sales through August this year were up compared to last year,” Osterlund said. He conceded, however, that he does not receive reports from Penney’s or the Broadway, whose corporate parents do not disclose sales results at individual stores.

As an example of the mystery that surrounds the work being done at the mall, an artist’s rendering displayed in the center court promises “an arched entry crowned by a 45-foot-high glass canopy” and “a two-story-high skylit ceiling, with parquet flooring, tile planters, tree grates and sconce light fixtures.”

Nothing, however, is said about the two chief subjects of conjecture among the mall’s tenants--whether a second floor of stores will be installed, and whether one or more new department stores will be added.

Neither Osterlund nor officials at MaceRich would answer these questions.

The tenants, therefore, are left to wonder about the mall’s future.

“They’ve been driving huge pylons into the ground, getting ready for the second level,” said Duke of Radio Shack. “They’ve said from the start that there would be a second level. I’ve heard it will take four years before it’s completed.”

Word, Penney’s manager, said he also has heard rumors, “but nothing definite,” about plans to add a third department store.

“It would help a lot,” he said. “We would especially welcome an upscale department store. That would assure the viability of the center.”

Some tenants said they have heard that not one but two department stores may be added. Robinson’s, Bullock’s and Nordstrom are the names most frequently mentioned as potential newcomers, these tenants said.

A MaceRich official who requested anonymity said, “Because of negotiations that are now going on, I can tell you very little about our plans for Buenaventura.” He refused to elaborate.

MaceRich, which says it is the second-largest mall operator in California, acquired Buenaventura Mall in 1987. The company is privately held and thus does not have to divulge as much detailed information about its activities as publicly held concerns do.

While most merchants at Buenaventura feel the improvements being made will help them in the long run, some strongly criticize the way the renovations are being carried out.

“Two things that they did really hurt us,” Duke said. “For months, they closed the main entrance on Mills Road. That confused and inconvenienced a lot of people.

“Then they fenced off the parking lot to make a storage area for construction equipment. Because of that, you couldn’t drive directly from one end to the other, between the Broadway and Penney’s.”

Duke said that in contrast to a significant drop in his store’s business, sales at other Radio Shacks in the county have been at least holding their own, even in a near-recession.

“My feeling is that things are very slow in this mall because of all the work that’s been going on,” he said. “I’ve been feeling the pinch since last March or April.”

Karen Baker, assistant manager of Plaza Travel & Cruises, one of the businesses that have left the mall since the renovations began, had three basic complaints.

“First, they wanted to raise our rent considerably,” she said. “Second, we do a lot of business on the phone, and the noise got so bad we were constantly telling people we’d have to call them back in five minutes. That didn’t help our business any.

“Third, the noise and dirt were so bad in the east wing, where we were located, that it discouraged foot traffic.” Plaza Travel has now moved to Telephone Road Plaza, about a half-mile east of the Buenaventura Mall.

Osterlund refused to comment about tenants that have left or about how many vacancies exist in Buenaventura. He pointed out, however, that several new stores have recently moved in or signed leases for space in the east wing, which is vacant while being renovated.

Some Buenaventura tenants are reluctant to discuss how they’ve been affected by the construction.

“My attorneys have told me not to comment,” said Tom Van Gundy, manager of the Van Gundy & Sons jewelry store, which recently was moved from the east to the west side of the center court.

Merchants at the center’s southern end, toward Main Street, say they have been affected less than others.

“We’ve had some noise and access problems, but on the whole it hasn’t been detrimental,” said Lina Kalbak, manager of Big 5 Sporting Goods. She added, “I trust they’ll let us know if they’re going to double-deck our end, however.”

Farther north, near Radio Shack, Tina Wilson, manager of the Shades Galore sunglasses stand, said she is in an especially good position to gauge foot traffic.

“It’s still slow, even though both entrances are now open,” she said. “But at least the smoke and pounding are gone for the time being.”