Seacliff center to open first store this month

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The second largest mall in the city is expected to

open its first store by the end of the month when the new Seacliff

Shopping Center debuts the Orchard Supply Hardware, an official for the

developer said.

Following closely behind will be a new Albertsons supermarket and a

Sav-on pharmacy, said James Yoder, retail development manager for

landowner Shea Properties.

By early summer, the 260,000-square-foot, $45-million complex at Main

Street and Yorktown Avenue will offer residents a good mix of retail

stores, restaurants and offices, he said.

“It’s going to have everything they want,” he said.

Although the new center is eclipsed in size by the Huntington Beach Mall,

more than 1,300 parking spaces have been set aside, city official said.

Traffic shouldn’t be a problem because the new mall is replacing an old

one and fewer than expected homes have been built in the surrounding

neighborhood, the city’s senior planner Mary Beth Broeren said.

So it should be easy to return a movie at the forthcoming Blockbuster

Video and to pick up some fast food at the future McDonald’s or Del Taco.

So far, no clothing stores have signed up, but something catering to

women or children would be ideal, Yoder said.

“We are really trying to hit that hard,” he said.

The new mall is expected to generate about $350,000 in annual sales tax

revenue, much more than its predecessor, which suffered from a high

vacancy rate, Broeren said.

Unlike the poorly designed old mall, which kept many stores hidden from

plain view, the latest version will feature an open-air plaza area, she

said.

Parts of the old mall still remain open, however. Before the original

Albertsons is torn down, the city will remove two bird murals and reunite

them with the others already on display at City Hall, she said.