Mall’s Owners May Convert It Into Open-Air Shopping Center

The loss of two anchor stores at Hawthorne Plaza in recent weeks has led owners of the ailing mall to reassess their plan to revitalize the 21-year-old mall and consider transforming it into an open-air shopping center, officials said Tuesday.

Community activist Danny Bakewell, who co-owns the mall with San Diego-based developer Oliver McMillan Co., had planned to begin a renovation this fall of the mall, which has a 50% vacancy rate. Bakewell said the recent closures of Macy’s Clearance Center and Montgomery Ward have caused him to rethink the redesign.

“We’re having to reevaluate whether we can find two new anchor tenants and continue with our initial plan, or whether we have to do something more innovative like raze the mall and create an open-air shopping center,” Bakewell said. “There is a lot of interest in open-air shopping centers.”

Construction crews have already begun razing several buildings on a separate 14-acre parcel on the south side of the mall to make room for a Lucky Food Center, Sav-On Drugs and several family restaurants, which are scheduled to open this summer. Bakewell, who has owned the mall for three years, said he had hoped the redesign of the mall would complement the new shops and vice versa.

Bakewell said he expects to have a new plan by April, when construction crews begin building the stores on the adjacent lot.

“The good news is that this has affected the first phase of the project,” Bakewell said. “But the time frame on the balance is up in the air.”