The speculation around the Fallbrook Mall is starting to resemble the Hollywood gossip mill. Only a few weeks ago, there was talk that a nighttime eatery-cum-entertainment center was considering taking up residence in the 37-year-old shopping complex. But lately the talk has taken a different turn. Several retail chains, it seems, have also been in discussions with Fallbrook’s management, General Growth Properties Inc., including Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s warehouse division SAM’s Club, Kohl’s Corp. and The Home Depot Inc. As if to heighten the intrigue, Kohl’s wasn’t even confirming its plans to enter the Southern California market at all, despite press reports months ago in the Business Journal that such a move was underway, but this month the company finally announced that it was planning to open in the area in 2003. Back to the more elusive facts. It was only a short time ago that Costco Wholesale Corp. was believed to be in discussions with the mall as well. But if the rumor mill is to be believed, Costco is definitely out, having decided that Fallbrook sits too close to another location it already occupies on Reseda Boulevard in Canoga Park. Then again, things change quickly at Fallbrook. “They’ve got a different schematic every day,” said a local real estate broker. Actually, even the mall management at Fallbrook concedes that the center’s plans have been a moving target. “I’ve seen six blueprints, and every one is different,” said Diana Coleman, general manager at Fallbrook. “Until they actually have these leases signed, they aren’t set in concrete.” Coleman did confirm that General Growth has held discussions with Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Kohl’s. Then again, the company has also held discussions with a number of other retailers, Coleman said. “I know General Growth is talking to all these people and several others but, at this point, there’s no signature on the bottom line,” said Coleman. The problem, of course, is not just the process of recruiting and signing tenants, a lengthy, drawn-out business in the best of circumstances. It’s also that Fallbrook’s needs have been changing as time has passed. When renovation plans began, the mall was focusing on the enclosed portion, a collection of specialty shops that have been having an increasingly difficult time competing with Westfield’s Shoppingtown Topanga, a much larger shopping center only a few miles away. But since then, Fallbrook has lost its movie theater, General Cinema, in the downturn in that sector and most recently, J.C. Penney Co. announced that it would close the outlet store it operated in the mall next month. With each closure, Fallbrook is dealing with a different set of space considerations. Kohl’s is said to be considering the space now occupied by Penney. That would leave one other space available for a second big box store, a location behind the Target store at the center. Then too, there are the stores currently vacating the enclosed portion of the mall, which could be torn down or reconfigured to accommodate yet another type of use. So who will join the ranks of Mervyn’s, Burlington Coat Factory, Kmart Corp., Sport Chalet Inc. and the other stores currently occupying the 1.2 million square foot center is anybody’s guess, including, it appears, the mall’s own management. But take heart. “They are moving forward,” said Coleman of General Growth. “And it will happen in a short period of time. Within the next 60 days, everyone will know.” No More Squares Speaking of big box retailers, you may have noticed the shape of some of these stores is changing. A Bed Bath and Beyond Inc. unit set to begin construction at the Courtyard in Encino will have two levels, a ground floor of 10,000 square feet and a second story of 20,000 square feet. Big box maybe, but definitely not square. Target, which is building a new unit on Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys set to open this summer, is also going to a two-level format there. When they came on the scene, so called big box stores were designed like warehouses, very large, single-story spaces with high ceilings that could accommodate shopping carts and allow for merchandise to be moved cheaply from the receiving area to the floor. But as these stores seek further opportunities for expansion, they are increasingly looking to urban areas and infill developments where there is either not enough land available for the single-story configuration or prices are too high for the rental requirements of operating these stores. “The cost of land has gotten so high that you can’t afford to build on a single level and at the rent they can afford to pay,” said Cliff Goldstein, a partner with J.H. Snyder Co., the developer that built one of the first dual-level big box units in the San Fernando Valley at Victory Boulevard and Canoga Avenue in Woodland Hills. Goldstein said that the success of Bed Bath and Beyond in that location convinced the company to open another dual-level store. “It was not prototypical, and not clear that a two-level store would be acceptable to shoppers,” said Goldstein. One thing that makes operating a big box store on two levels so difficult is finding a way to get the shopping carts from one level to the next. Special escalators are imported from Germany for the task. While there have been an increasing number of big box retailers adapting to two-level formats in other areas of Los Angeles, the phenomenon is relatively new to the San Fernando Valley. But many believe it is the wave of the future. “Retailers are becoming more comfortable with this two-story format,” said Chris Wilson, a broker with Wilson Commercial Real Estate who handled the Courtyard of Encino transaction. Fresh Quarters TR Funding LLC, a Westlake Village-based developer is set to begin construction on a 24,000-square-foot office building in Thousand Oaks. Baja Fresh has signed on to lease half the new facility, which is expected to cost $4 million. The casual-dining chain signed a 10-year lease for $3 million for the second floor of the building. The company plans to relocate about 45 employees to what will be its new corporate headquarters. Tony Principe, executive vice president of Westlake Village-based Westcord Commercial Real Estate Services, represented Baja Fresh and TR Funding in the deal. Staff Reporter Shelly Garcia can be reached at (818) 676-1750, ext. 14 or by e-mail at [email protected].
