Wards’ closure may ‘breathe new life’ into mall

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- The city may have another chance to revisit plans

to turn the Huntington Center into a glitzy destination for shoppers now

that Montgomery Wards & Co. has filed for bankruptcy.

The owner of Wards department store last week announced its decision

to shut down operations across the country due to poor holiday sales. The

Surf City store will shut by spring after it fought hard to be included

in redevelopment plans for the 30-year-old Huntington Center at Beach

Boulevard and Edinger Avenue.

“I think bittersweet is a really good way to describe the feeling

here,” said Phillip Schwartze, a Wards planning consultant who fought

alongside Burlington Coat Factory to stay at the mall when city officials

considered ousting both companies through eminent domain. “It’s a shame

to see a store close after it’s had such a history, 25 years in this city

and 128 in all.”

Gus Duran, the city’s housing and redevelopment manager, said the

closure could breathe new life into The Crossings at Huntington Beach,

the plan by Irvine-based developer Ezralow Retail Property LLC to turn

the struggling Huntington Center into a shopping center to rival South

Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.

The plan included retrofitting the 58-acre mall into a $150-million

Italian-style village, with upscale shops and restaurants, as well as a

multiscreen movie theater. The City Council approved plans for the

revamped mall in October, but later blocked Ezralow’s efforts by not

using eminent domain to remove Wards and Burlington, which weren’t

included in the new shopping center.

“The [Wards] closure basically means that there’s a renewed interest

and opportunity in this project,” Duran said. “Right now we are waiting

to find out what Ezralow plans to do and also on what happens to Wards in

bankruptcy court.”

Ezralow officials were disappointed in November when the City Council

could not turn out the votes necessary to approve the use of eminent

domain at the mall. In response, the developer reduced its more expansive

plans for the center.

Ezralow president Doug Gray said Wards’ closing isn’t likely to change

anything.

“We still won’t be able to build The Crossings,” Gray said. “We’re in

discussion to acquire Wards’s property, and it will give us more

flexibility in our site plan and tenant choices.”

The retailer’s demise also ends employment for more than 100 Wards

employees. Company officials said they expect to begin selling off all

merchandise in the next few weeks and shutting down all stores by April.

Wards owned its mall property, which will go up for sale once the doors

close for a final time.

Duran said his department saw the writing on the wall for Wards in

October, which is why it recommended the use of eminent domain at the

mall.

“We expected [the closure] because the market indicated it,” he said,

adding that he expected Wards to shut down this month. “I didn’t think it

would happen before New Year’s Day, though.”