Developer to Add More Retail at Bella Terra
The Bella Terra shopping center in Huntington Beach, Calif., is following the lead of high-profile projects such as L.A. Live! in downtown Los Angeles and is adding a mixed-use element after owner DJM Capital Partners gained approvals on the Village at Bella Terra from the city of Huntington Beach.
The six-story project will feature 700 apartments with 138,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. It will be developed on a 14-acre site adjacent to Bella Terra, where a former Montgomery Ward store sits.
Bella Terra, an 800,000-square-foot center that opened in 2006, has been noted as a prime example of suburban redevelopment as developers took an aging enclosed mall—the former Huntington Center—and turned it into a lifestyle shopping center featuring local and national retailers such as Kohl’s, REI, Century Theaters, Huntington Surf & Sport and up-and-coming fast-fashion apparel retailer No Rest for Bridget.
The Village at Bella Terra is the final phase of the Bella Terra master plan, following the main retail center and a nearby office development. The new project will complement Bella Terra with shops, cafeacute;s and other convenience retail. Heather Hollister, a former real estate executive for Wet Seal, recently joined DJM and will handle leasing for the new project.
Construction is expected to begin in 2009. —Robert McAllister
