Riverside Plaza on Track to Break Ground
Developers hope to break ground by spring 2002 on the planned renovation of Riverside Plaza in Riverside, Calif.
The $50 million project will transform the enclosed mall into a 511,000-square-foot outdoor center, divided into retail sections of neighborhood shops, power center stores and a restaurant cluster.
“This is a total knockdown, start-over effort,” said Cord Kirshner, vice president of Litchfield Advisors, the representative of mall owner Chicago-based Westminster Central LLC.
Tenant negotiations have begun with Ross Stores, Gap, Old Navy and Famous Footwear. To date, Krikorian Premiere Theatres has signed on to operate the 15-screen cinema attraction.
Existing tenants Gottschalk’s, Trader Joe’s and Sav-on will remain open during the renovation, which should finish by fall 2003, Kirshner said. The mall has let the leases expire for the balance of its 100 stores.
Delays have plagued the renovation efforts since the mall went into foreclosure in 1995 under the ownership and operation of Hughes/Purcell. The mall’s lender, Prudential Insurance Co., then acquired Riverside Plaza and sold it to Westminster in 1998. Kirshner said Westminster ran into a setback in late 2000 when Montgomery Ward—a mall tenant—declared bankruptcy, but the retailer’s lease was finally acquired last year.
Riverside Plaza fell on hard times in the early ’90s following the California recession. The $1.7 million expansion of the city’s other mall, Galleria at Tyler, in 1991 and the opening of the nearby Ontario Mills outlet stores in 1996 were other reasons for the mall’s struggles. —Nola Sarkisian-Miller
