South County Super Mall Plan ‘on Track’ : Retail: Owner says two department stores, movie theaters could be added at Laguna Hills despite sales slump.

LAS VEGAS — Despite a retail sales slump that has virtually halted construction, the owner of Laguna Hills Mall said Tuesday that a planned expansion that could add two department stores and a second story with multiscreen movie theaters to the 17-year-old mall remains on track.

Jeremiah W. O’Connor Jr., chairman of New York-based O’Connor Group, which owns the mall, said in a brief interview that the expansion would proceed next year with or without luring Nordstrom to operate one of the new department stores.

“We think that Laguna Hills is a great site,” O’Connor said.

The O’Connor Group submitted plans in October, 1990, that called for expanding the mall to 1.5 million square feet, up 67% from the present 868,797 square feet. The expansion would add specialty stores, a new food court and three parking garages with more than 2,900 spaces. As such, it would become the first “super mall” in south Orange County.

The Irvine Co. and the Edward J. DeBartolo Corp., which owns the Mission Viejo Mall, have both expressed interest in opening giant malls to serve the burgeoning, affluent South County area as well.

But the recession and consumers’ interest in discount-priced, so-called “value-oriented” stores has seriously curtailed new mall development. O’Connor, for example, was the moderator of a panel Tuesday at the International Council of Shopping Centers convention here on the “graying” of the shopping center industry.

O’Connor, like the other speakers, agreed that the shopping mall is evolving. He said in a later interview, however, that there are still underserved pockets, such as South County, where new mall development can take place.

But a few hours later, an O’Connor Group spokesman suggested that the company does not consider its plans in Laguna Hills to be firm yet.

Paul F. Kastner, senior vice president for marketing, said it’s too early to announce details about the center. “We don’t have enough to announce,” he said.

O’Connor said his executives have been talking with the Nordstrom department store chain about leasing space in an expanded Laguna Hills Mall. At present, the mall has a Broadway, J.C. Penney and Sears as its largest stores. A Buffums store has remained vacant since the chain went out of business last year.

“We’ve been in discussions with Nordstrom with several years,” he said, adding that the new shopping center expansion could go ahead without securing Nordstrom as a tenant.

Laguna Hills Mall Expansion

Laguna Hills Mall may increase its leasable space from 868,797 square feet to 1,499,589 square feet. 1. Firestone 2. J.C. Penney 3. Parking structure 4. Sears garden department 5. Broadway 6. New department store 7. Parking structure 8. New department store 9. Sears auto department 10. Sears 11. Mall

At a Glance: Laguna Hills Mall

Type: Super regional mall

Opening date: April, 1975

Leasable retail space: 868,797 square feet

Anchor stores: JC Penney, Sears, the Broadway

1990 taxable retail sales: $150 million

Parking capacity: 4,400 cars

Management company: O’Connor Management Inc., Los Angeles

Owner: O’Connor Group, New York

After the Expansion . . .

Leasable retail space: 1,449,589 square feet

Additions: Movie theaters, food court, specialty stores

New anchors: Mall owners are courting two new retailers

Parking: Three new structures, with more than 2,900 spaces

Source: Los Angeles Times Marketing Research

Researched by DALLAS JACKSON / Los Angeles Times