Large project looms

Dave Brooks

Several local developers are planning what will be one of the largest

commercial developments in Huntington Beach. It will transform the

intersection of Beach Boulevard and Atlanta Avenue into a vast

shopping village punctuated by a multi-story, luxury hotel.

City Planner Paul Da Viega confirmed the existence of the project,

currently in infancy stages of planning.

What is now a dilapidated strip mall south of the Hyatt Regency

Huntington Beach Resort and Spa could become a sprawling mixed

commercial/residential hub similar to the recently approved Pacific

City project just a few blocks north along Pacific Coast Highway.

Although specific details are not available, Da Viega confirmed

the developers plan to build a commercial village anchored by

department stores and a large pedestrian shopping mall with private

condos and offices adorning the secondary floors of several

buildings.

The centerpiece of the development would be a multi-story luxury

hotel, visible from Pacific Coast Highway.

The yet unnamed development would be the southern anchor of the

city’s expansive beachfront corridor. Just north of the property on

the other side of Beach Boulevard is the recently completed Hyatt and

the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort. Just south of those two hotels is

an open 31-acre property set to be the future home of Pacific City,

which will also include a hotel and a mixed commercial/residential

pedestrian area. Pacific City is expected to be completed by 2007.

North from Pacific City is the Pier Plaza and Main Street,

followed by the Strand shopping mall, which is expected to be

completed in 2006.

Current majority property owner Bijan Sassounian said he and

partner Mike Adams from SAS Development would be the primary

developers of the project. Adams was the Huntington Beach planning

director from 1989 to 1995 and oversaw the building of the Hilton

hotel, the Dukes restaurant at the pier and Holly Seacliff

development. He declined to comment for this article.

Sassounian said he wouldn’t release any details about the

development until a formal application had been submitted to the

planning department.

“It may bring in a lot of people because of the height and the

distance,” he said. “We don’t want to jeopardize our project by

bringing in opposition.”

Da Viega said the project is in the earliest phases of planning

and Sassounian has only informally discussed the details of the

project with planning department staff in preparation for a formal

application. The end-project could be vastly different from SAS

Development’s original proposal, he said.

The land where the new development is located is not zoned for the

proposed use, said Da Viega, since the mixed-use design -- combining

residential and commercial buildings in a European village type plan

-- is a relatively new concept in the city.

“What they’re going to have to do is come up with a specific plan

for the property and an environmental impact report,” Da Viega said.

The property is in the far southern branch of the city’s

redevelopment zone and could qualify for city subsidies, said

Economic Development Director David Biggs.

For years, city planners had been pressuring Sassounian to remodel

the dilapidated strip mall, but a disagreement between the site’s

multiple owners -- Sassounian and retail anchors Sav-On and Big Lots

-- stymied change.

“The basic hurdle is having control of the site,” Biggs said. “I

told Bijan [Sassounian] to come talk to me when he had everyone lined

up.”

It’s unclear what agreement, if any, has been reached between the

property owners, but Biggs said Sassounian wouldn’t be able to submit

an application without some type of formal agreement.

To many in the city, a remodel of the site was welcome news.

Huntington Beach Conference and Visitor’s Bureau President Doug

Traub called the change “fabulous” and said a remodel “would be a big

plus to the city.”

“The property currently does not make good use of the land that is

allocated to it,” he said. “It would be a higher and better use as

some time of development.”

Traub, however, was cautious about celebrating a remodel for the

site.

“Getting it announced and actually getting it done could take a

long time,” he said.