Regency Centers Kicks Off 352,000-SF Marketplace

BREA, CA-Regency Centers has launched construction of phase one of the Jacksonville, FL-based shopping center REIT’s redevelopment of the 352,000-sf Brea Marketplace, a project slated for completion in 2009. The center, at 835 E. Birch St., will remain open during the construction phase, according to Erwin Bucy, Regency Centers senior vice president of investments.

Bucy says that some tenants will relocate to other areas in the center upon construction completion of the retail shop areas in late summer. He notes that Brea Marketplace tenants include a 37,000-sf 24-Hour Fitness, Beverages and More (BevMo), Fidelity Investments, plus a variety of restaurants and service businesses. Also, a 20,331-sf Circuit City is under construction and is slated to open for business this month.

Phase two of the redevelopment is slated for completion in 2009 and will include a new T.G.I. Friday’s restaurant to be built on an out parcel; Regency will build an adjacent 4,000-sf, two-story office building. According to Bucy, the Brea Marketplace redevelopment design will feature a new façade, tile roof, landscaping, as well as new signage, site work and lighting plus resurfacing in the parking areas.

The Brea Marketplace project is one of a number of Orange County centers owned and operated by Regency, which last year marked the final phase of its redevelopment of the 102,107-sf Seal Beach Center in Seal Beach. The Florida-based REIT’s final phase of redevelopment included the construction of a new Vons Pavilion Supermarket.

The Orange County centers are part of a substantial development pipeline in Southern California for Regency. The company’s developments in Southern California represent one of the most active development and investment regions of the country for the REIT.