ANAHEIM : Developer Chosen to Boost Mall Appeal

In its effort to revive the flagging Anaheim Plaza shopping center, the Anaheim Redevelopment Agency selected a Newport Beach developer Tuesday to devise a plan to bring more merchants and shoppers to the mall.

Agency officials said the selection of developer Donahue Schriber “is a significant prerequisite to securing tenants” for the mall, now hurt by aging design and strong area competition.

Donahue Schriber Vice President Glenn Myers said the firm would begin attempts at luring prospective tenants to the plaza, although no master plan or renovation of the 38-acre shopping center have yet been proposed.

“We don’t know what it is going to be,” Myers said. “If it is going to be a regional shopping mall, it will require major renovating. It will be whatever it can be.”

Owned by the California State Teachers Retirement System, the shopping center has seen sales decline for the last several years, leading to the departure of Robinson’s in 1988. The store moved to Santa Ana’s expanded MainPlace.

The plaza opened in 1954 but the development of new shopping centers such as Westminster Mall, The City in Orange, Brea Mall, Buena Park Mall and South Coast Plaza cut into volume.

In its report to the agency, officials with the city’s Community Development Department called the selection of Donahue Schriber a milestone in the redevelopment of the center, located just over a mile from Disneyland.

Still to come are the master plan, financial plan and the preparation of an owner participation agreement. 1.

“Everybody is motivated to make something happen here,” Myers said.