Orange County Shoppers Say Goodbye To Westminster Mall - Beritaja

After serving for decades arsenic a organization hub and celebrated shopping center, the Westminster Mall successful Orange County is getting fresh to adjacent its doors.

Most of the shops successful the promenade will unopen down connected Oct. 29 erstwhile leases expire, according to Westminster City Manager Christine Cordon. The City Council approved a redevelopment scheme successful 2022 to move the promenade into a mixed-use tract for housing, leisure and retail.

The 100-acre property, situated connected the southbound broadside of the 405 Freeway, could soon connection 3,000 lodging units and astatine slightest 600,000 quadrate feet of upscale unit space.

The city’s Westminster Mall Specific Plan besides sets speech much than 9 acres for parks and recreation.

“The organization has expressed a beardown desire to revitalize this important commercialized center,” the redevelopment scheme says. “The task tract provides a unsocial opportunity to reposition the promenade into the thriving activity halfway that it erstwhile was and to accommodate the early maturation of the city.”

Community members gathered past week to opportunity their goodbyes to the mall, which already has shuttered stores and quiet parking lots. According to the mall’s online directory, celebrated shops specified arsenic Victoria’s Secret, Vans and Kay Jewelers are still open.

JCPenney, the mall’s oldest anchor store, is slated to adjacent by Nov. 21. Best Buy and Target are expected to stay unfastened for a fewer much years arsenic the spot undergoes redevelopment.

Alexis Malatesta, who frequented the promenade arsenic a teen and now runs a Westminster Mall fan account connected Instagram, hosted a farewell karaoke statement astatine the promenade connected Friday.

She posted videos of the gathering, wherever respective organization members came to reminisce and singing songs successful the mall’s honor.

Malatesta’s Instagram says it’s “a page dedicated solely to the Westminster Mall’s conflict pinch terminal illness,” referencing the mall’s long, rocky autumn from its prime.

In 1986, the promenade was Orange County’s second-highest-grossing unit center. The adjacent year, the promenade announced a large renewal plan.

In its heyday, the promenade was a gathering spot erstwhile location were fewer different places to bent out. It was wherever kids recovered the latest fashions and wherever “mall rats” roamed successful packs aft school.

Malatesta, who grew up successful Huntington Beach, said she spent countless afternoons astatine the promenade successful the early 2000s, riding the carousel and snapping integer photos. As the promenade fell into disrepair, she posted stunts connected societal media to effort to make business, including a clone wedding ceremonial to state her matrimony to the mall.

“I wanted to get group to spell bask the abstraction while it was still there,” she said successful an interview. “The Westminster Mall was a immense portion of my puerility and I’ve met a ton of group done our shared obsession pinch the mall.”

The Westminster Mall opened successful 1974 connected the erstwhile tract of the world’s largest goldfish farm, according to metropolis documents.

It underwent awesome renovations successful the 1980s and successful 2008, and is now controlled by 4 companies that stock ownership of the property: Kaiser Permanente, Shopoff Realty, True Life Cos. and Washington Prime Group.

True Life, a Denver-based existent property firm, has received support from the metropolis to build a five-story, multifamily lodging building connected the 3.6 acres that was antecedently occupied by Babies R Us.

Because of a pending statement betwixt the 4 companies, a demolition day for the promenade has not been set.

Though the metropolis has eager redevelopment plans, the Westminster Mall will suffer its nostalgic worth for Malatesta, now 33 years old.

“You could spell into an indoor promenade and you could hide about the extracurricular world,” Malatesta said. “Westminster Mall was my spot.”