City to Rethink E-Street Plan Due to Theater Project

A 16-screen movie theater complex proposed at Brookhurst Street and Chapman Avenue is expected to win Planning Commission approval Thursday, forcing the city to reexamine its plans for the E-Street project two miles away.

Tennessee-based Regal Theaters plans to build the movie theater and two restaurants on a 40-acre parcel now occupied by a closed Costco outlet.

The 14-acre E-Street project nearby will now have to shift its focus from theaters to retail, city officials said.

City Manager George Tindall said several proposals for multiscreen theaters in Anaheim and other nearby communities, including one at the former City Shopping Center and another in the planned Disney expansion, have made the Brookhurst and Chapman property more desirable than the E-Street site for a multiscreen cinema.

“A lot has changed, and now there are a number of other theaters proposed near the city,” Tindall said.

“We’re still proceeding with the E-Street project, but we’ll be working on retail rather than theaters as the major tenants,” he said.

The city took over the 12-acre Oasis Mobile Home Park and relocated more than 100 of its elderly residents this year to make room for the E-Street development.

Tindall said E-Street’s developer, Westrust Financial, continues to seek tenants for the property.

The project’s original concept boasted a multiscreen theater, restaurants and shops.

Tindall said final plans for the redesigned project are expected by late summer.