Plans to ‘Open Up’ Anaheim Plaza Unveiled : Retailing: Developers propose ‘bringing the marketplace to the sidewalks.’ A city councilman says the plan is not bold enough to lure people to the failing shopping center.
In an attempt to revive the failing Anaheim Plaza shopping center, developers have proposed transforming the downtown mall into an open-air marketplace that city officials hope will keep shoppers and their dollars from straying outside the city limits.
Ironically, the open-air concept submitted Wednesday to the Anaheim Redevelopment Agency is a return of sorts to the retail center’s original design, when it debuted in 1955 as one of the most modern in Southern California.
The long-awaited design, however, is not winning plaudits from one city council member who blasted the proposal Wednesday as a lackluster effort to win back millions of dollars in sales tax revenue lost to neighboring cities with newer and more attractive retail centers.
“I guess, to put it simply, it’s not bold enough,” said Councilman Tom Daly, who has pushed for redevelopment of the site. “I don’t see any risk-taking at all. The (plaza) owners’ lack of action has cost the city of Anaheim tens of millions of dollars (in lost sales tax revenue) and has caused a major inconvenience to the people of Anaheim.”
Under the plan, submitted by the Newport Beach development company Donahue Schriber, the new plaza would be designed around existing, popular-priced department store tenants: Mervyn’s, the Broadway and a third, unidentified anchor to replace Robinson’s, which left Anaheim four years ago.
“Right now, the plaza is perceived as a failure as a retail center,” said Glenn Myers, development vice president with Donahue Schriber. “We’d like to do something with the landscaping to make it bold and festive, and we are considering plans for outdoor plazas.”
As presented, Myers said the open-air concept is designed to make the existing 45 stores more accessible to shoppers, “bringing the marketplace to the sidewalks,” Myers said.
Although not included in the plan presented to the Redevelopment Agency, Myers said the ultimate goal would be to include space for movie theaters and a possible food court within the plaza’s 164,000 square feet. However, Myers said recent attempts at locating cinema operators have been unsuccessful because of the large number of theaters already in the county. The inclusion of a food court would be largely dependent on securing a theater operator, Myers said.
Brad Hobson, the Redevelopment Agency’s project manager, said the cost of the Donahue Schriber plan had not yet been determined. He said the agency would be considering the merits of the developer’s design next week.
“It’s what I would consider a sensible plan for difficult economic times,” Hobson said.
But Daly said the plan is not enough to bring back the shoppers who in the early- to mid-1980s were lured to new malls in Brea, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa.
Bought in 1984 for $33.5 million by the State Teachers Retirement System, the plaza has since slipped dramatically in prestige and appearance. Although enclosed in a $4-million renovation in 1972, the plaza has made few changes since and maintains its dark color scheme and huge, largely vacant corridors.
The plaza was hurt badly in 1987, when the upscale Robinson’s department store closed its anchor store in Anaheim and moved to the brighter and more prosperous environs of MainPlace/Santa Ana.
Robinson’s departure also spurred the exodus of several specialty stores from the plaza and shoppers who, city officials say, have become used to spending their money in other cities.
