MISSION VIEJO : City to Invest $2 Million to Get Kaleidoscope Mall Project Going

Kaleidoscope, an entertainment mall proposed three years ago, may finally be moving off the drawing board.

The City Council agreed Monday to invest $2 million in the project, which would include restaurants, specialty retail shops and several movie screens.

Acting as the Community Development Agency, the council also voted to give developer Pacific Development Partners Inc. of Beverly Hills about $125,000 annually in redevelopment funds for the 200,000-square-foot mall.

“As a city official, I think it’s an excellent development for one of the key entrances for the city,” Councilman Lawrence H. Smith said of the project, proposed for Crown Valley Parkway at Interstate 5. “This will be a happening thing. Our residents will be proud of it.”

City officials say they hope to reap $250,000 to $400,000 in annual sales tax revenue from the mall, which has a commitment from the Good Guys, an electronics retailer, to put a storethere.

The project has been before Mission Viejo officials for more than three years. The developer’s plan won approval from the city but had a harder time attracting investors.

Last year, Pacific Development Partners began asking for Mission Viejo’s financial participation in the project, setting off a lengthy negotiation process.

Now that an agreement has been reached, city officials said, they hope to see a Kaleidoscope opening in 1997.