Another Obsolete Mall in SoCal Slated for Reuse Project
Westminster will convert 100-acre site into mixed-use development with 3K homes.
Another obsolete shopping mall from the 1980s is being transformed into a mixed-use residential development, a trend that is growing.
The City of Westminster has unveiled plans to convert a 100-acre shopping mall into a project encompassing 3,000 homes and 1.2M of retail and restaurants.
The city has received four proposals to remake the 48-year-old mall at 1025 Westminster Mall, which is bordered by the 405 Freeway at Bolsa Avenue and Edwards Street, according to a report in the Orange County Register.
According to the report, the mixed-use development will be built in the mall’s parking lot, with at least 10% of the apartment units in the planned development to be designated as affordable.
Building heights may vary at the project, according to the newspaper, which said that buildings adjacent to existing single-family neighborhoods bordering the mall would be limited to four stories, while the residential buildings next to the freeway could rise up toe 10 stories, according to the newspaper.
The project proposals also have called for hotels, office buildings, medical offices and several acres of parks.
The Westminster Mall opened in 1974 and was remodeled in 2008, adding JCPenny, Macy’s and Target stores. In July, Shopoff Investments, based in Irvine, bought the former Sears store at the mall as well as 14 acres of property for about $46M.
Aging malls across the US are the subject of adaptive reuse projects trending toward new mixed-use developments, with as many as 20% of the older properties under redevelopment.
In May, a 1970s-era downtown mall in Redlands was approved for a conversion into 700 apartment units as well as shops and restaurants. The Redlands City Council unanimously approved a proposal to replace the 12-acre mall with 173K SF of mixed-use property.
Developer Newport Beach-based Village Partners is planning five buildings for the site, including condos and more than 12K SF of office space, as well as 72K SF of ground-floor retail.
A five-story parking garage also is planned for the development, as well as an underground parking facility. The Redlands Mall closed in 2010 after its anchor store, Gottschalks, closed and went into bankruptcy proceedings.