Bella Terra

Bella Terra is an outdoor shopping mall in Huntington Beach, California. It was built on the site of the former Huntington Center. The center's current anchors are; Kohl's, Burlington Coat Factory, Barnes & Noble, Cinemark Theaters, Whole Foods Market, and Costco Wholesale.

Bella Terra
Bella Terra
LocationHuntington Beach, California, United States
Coordinates33°43′54.43″N 117°59′37.04″W
Address7777 Edinger Avenue
Opening date1966/2006
ManagementDJM Capital Partners
OwnerDJM Capital Partners
ArchitectPerkowitz & Ruth
No. of stores and services100
No. of anchor tenants10
ParkingParking lot, parking garage
Websitebellaterra-hb.com

History

Huntington Center opening
The Mervyn's was closed in late 2008. It sat vacant from 2008 to 2010 before it was demolished.

The Huntington Center was the first enclosed, all-weather mall in Orange County. It opened in 1966 at a cost of $20,000,000 with 55 retailers occupying a total of 842,855 square feet (78,303.8 m2) of retail space on a 58-acre (23 ha) lot, and parking for 3,700 cars.[1][2]

Department store anchored the center:[3]

  • The Broadway 2 stories, 150,000 square feet (14,000 m2) on a 12-acre (4.9 ha) lot,[1] Charles Luckman and Associates, architects[2]
  • JCPenney 2 stories, 206,090 square feet (19,146 m2) plus a 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) auto service center
  • Montgomery Ward 2 stories, 168,900 square feet (15,690 m2) plus a 29,000 square feet (2,700 m2) auto service center on a 13.6-acre (5.5 ha) lot[1]
  • Barker Brothers a 2 story furniture store (built with the same architectural style as The Broadway) across the parking lot and an unenclosed strip of several shops adjacent.

Additional tenants at opening included Lerner's, Judy's, Harris & Frank, Leed's, Kinney Shoes, Thom McAn, Security First National Bank, Crocker-Citizens National Bank Food Fair supermarket and Thrifty Drug Stores.[3]

An eight-ton statue from Budapest, Hungary was installed in the center of the mall.[3]

Later developments
  • 1986: New wing was built with Mervyn's added as its fourth anchor store and a new food court added and all opened in November.
  • 1993: JCPenney closed in November and relocated to Westminster Mall.
  • 1995: Burlington Coat Factory replaced JCPenney. Barnes & Noble opened in October, moving into the long-vacant former Barker Bros. building.[4]
  • 1996: The Broadway closed in August due to the company being purchased by Macy's and liquidated and the wing between the closed The Broadway building and Burlington Coat Factory was closed and sealed off shortly thereafter as the mall's business begins to decline rapidly.

Closedown
  • 2000: Burlington Coat Factory sued mall owners, claiming they are being "forced out" during the mall's redevelopment.[5]
  • 2001: Montgomery Ward closed in March due to liquidation making it the last original anchor store to close.
  • 2003: Mall closed, except for Mervyn's and Burlington Coat Factory, which closed shortly after the mall closed. The mall was demolished soon afterward, except for Burlington Coat Factory, Mervyn's and the empty Montgomery Ward and The Broadway.

Rebirth as Bella Terra
  • 2006: Bella Terra opened with Kohl's in the old The Broadway building. The empty Montgomery Ward building was left standing and was demolished in 2010.
  • 2008: Mervyn's and Circuit City closed, Mervyn's due to liquidation and Circuit City due to bankruptcy.
  • 2010: The vacant Montgomery Ward and Mervyn's buildings were demolished. [6] Whole Foods Market replaces former Circuit City.
  • 2012: Costco opened in May.[7]
  • 2013: The Residences at Bella Terra, a 467-unit apartment complex with retail space on the ground level, opened on the site of the former Montgomery Ward.[8]

References
  1. "Ward's Store Will Be Largest in H. B. Center". Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram. August 29, 1965. p. 107. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  2. "Huntington Center to Have Air-Conditioned, Heated Mall". Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram. August 15, 1965. p. 113. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  3. "Grand Opening Slated for Huntington Center". Long Beach Independent. November 17, 1966. p. 82. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  4. Johnson, Greg (30 October 1995). "Bookstores Hit Best-Seller List: Outlets Grow in Number in O.C." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  5. Earnest, Leslie (11 July 2000). "Burlington: We're Being Forced Out". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  6. Fletcher, Jaimee Lynn (December 16, 2010). "Surf City's Montgomery Ward is Gone". Orange County Register. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
  7. Bersebach, Paul (2 May 2012). "Costco opens its doors in Huntington Beach". Orange County Register. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  8. Venegas, Ana (16 April 2013). "Housing brings Bella Terra vision into focus". Orange County Register. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
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