Regency Redevelops Grocery-Drug Center

SEAL BEACH, CA-Florida-based Regency Centers plans to redevelop the Seal Beach Center with the addition of a 48,000-sf Pavilions grocery store and a 15,000-sf Safeway "upscale concept" drive-thru drug store. Regency has already begun work on the center, which is situated at the northeast corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street.Erwin Bucy, VP of investments for Jacksonville, FL-based Regency, says the shopping center REIT will add improvements including new pedestrian walkways, updated light fixtures to prevent light spillage, new storefronts and added screen walls and landscaping to mitigate noise.Bucy notes that the development, at the main entrance to Downtown, won unanimous approval from the Seal Beach Planning Commission. First developed in the 1960's, the property suffers from outdated architecture and limited landscaping, along with other issues, according to Regency. Besides the anchors, Seal Beach Center will be home to a variety of national and local tenants including Radio Shack, Seal Beach Realty, Coach's Sports Grill and the Daily Grind Coffee House, which will also be expanded during redevelopment.The Seal Beach Center is part of a substantial development pipeline in Southern California for Regency. Regency chief investment officer Brian Smith in the company's Los Angeles office told GlobeSt.com late last year that the Southern California represents one of the most active development and investment regions of the country for the REIT.Los Angeles and Orange County alone represent more than 11% of Regency's NOI, making it the second largest investment market in the country and just shy of No. 1, Smith said in the interview.