Plan to Build Riverwalk in Garden Grove Dries Up
A planned music-themed entertainment complex that was supposed to help transform Garden Grove into a tourist magnet has been shelved because the developer could not line up tenants or funding for the $400-million project, the city said Tuesday.
The apparent demise of Music City Riverwalk may indicate that parts of the county are “over-retailed,” said Matthew Fertal, Garden Grove’s community development director. The proposed 53-acre project was one of several entertainment and shopping centers expected to sprout in the heart of Orange County.
The city had twice extended its deadline for the developer to present a financing and tenant package, but when the developer asked for a third extension, the city declined, Fertal said.
Riverwalk’s collapse is a blow to the city, which had hoped the project would attract up to 10 million tourists and as much as $3 million in taxes annually. But it was not a surprise.
City officials had sensed it would be tough to bring the project to fruition after Walt Disney Co. announced plans for Downtown Disney, a shopping and entertainment center that would link Disneyland and the new California Adventure theme park; Pointe Anaheim proposed a shopping and entertainment center across the street from Disneyland; and the Block at Orange opened in November 1998, Fertal said.
“They started becoming what Riverwalk was intended to be for this area--the restaurant, entertainment and theater experience for the tourists to visit,” he said. “We began to see a squeeze for the same tenants.”
The developer, OHI Inc., could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
But the Leo A. Daly architectural firm, which has been working on the project, said it still hopes the project will survive.
“I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out,” said Ken Rogerson, a vice president at the firm. “It could very well still happen, but maybe in a different form.”
Riverwalk would have featured an artificial 30-foot-wide river lined with restaurants, themed entertainment venues and specialty shops. The project also called for a 20-screen movie theater, a 500-room hotel and other attractions.
