MAKEOVER OF VALLEY MALL IN THE WORKS ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES NOW LOOKING AT FUTURE PHASES.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer LANCASTER - With the former House2Home store already demolished de·mol·ish tr.v. de·mol·ished, de·mol·ish·ing, de·mol·ish·es 1. To tear down completely; raze. 2. To do away with completely; put an end to. 3. , environmental studies are in progress that will allow for the makeover of the rest of the Valley Central Shopping Center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into - a makeover that will include a Wal-Mart Supercenter. The shopping center makeover, expected to cost up to $25 million and aided by $2.3 million from the city, is being conducted in phases: The first is building a new 99 Cents Only store on the cleared House2Home site. ``They should be in their new store by midsummer,'' said Stan Hoffman, director of development for Developers Diversified Realty realty n. a short form of "real estate." (See: real estate) REALTY. An abstract of real, as distinguished from personalty. Realty relates to lands and tenements, rents or other hereditaments. Vide Real Property. , the mall's owner. Once 99 Cents Only moves into its new 24,000-square-foot store, the old 15,000-square-foot 99 Cents Only store and the vacant 125,000-square-foot former Costco building will be demolished to be replaced by a Wal-Mart Supercenter covering about 218,500 square feet. Once the Wal-Mart Supercenter is open, the current 116,000-square-foot Wal-Mart building will be split up into spaces for three or four stores. Three pads along Valley Central Way will be built to accommodate either smaller stores or restaurants. The work to accommodate the new 99 Cents Only store is being done under permits issued for about two years. To accommodate the rest of the makeover, an environmental impact report is being prepared. A draft of that document has been released and is expected to be finalized See finalization. this spring. ``The leasing team has had a lot of interest, but it is kind of early yet,'' Hoffman said. ``Once we get through the EIR EIR n. popular acronym for environmental impact report, required by many states as part of the application to a county or city for approval of a land development or project. (See: environmental impact report) process, we think things will get pretty lively there.'' Valley Central is Lancaster's biggest shopping area, but it has lost three major tenants. The Costco building has been vacant since Costco relocated re·lo·cate v. re·lo·cat·ed, re·lo·cat·ing, re·lo·cates v.tr. To move to or establish in a new place: relocated the business. v.intr. in February 2003 to Avenue L near the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. ; Circuit City moved to Palmdale; and the House2Home store closed in 2002 when the corporation went out of business. Last March, the City Council approved an incentive package for the makeover work, agreeing to turn over ownership of the former Costco building, providing $500,000 for remodeling remodeling /re·mod·el·ing/ (re-mod´el-ing) reorganization or renovation of an old structure. bone remodeling work, and offering $1.8 million to be paid over several years at a rate of one-half of the sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. increase generated by the new development. The made-over center is expected to generate $500,000 annually in increased sales tax revenue for the city, officials said. The environmental study was required because a number of years have passed since the mall was built in 1989 through 1991, and because of the sheer size of demolition and construction work to be done, said Brain Ludicke, Lancaster's director of community development. ``They are demolishing a significant amount of space,'' Ludicke said. The second phase of the work will involve the demolition of 279,203 square feet of building space and the construction of 387,580 square feet of new retail space. Developers Diversified Realty acquired the shopping center in September 2000 from Pacific Burnham as part of a $355 million deal for 15 shopping centers. The transaction did not include the old Costco building, which had been acquired by the city as part of an effort to relocate re·lo·cate v. re·lo·cat·ed, re·lo·cat·ing, re·lo·cates v.tr. To move to or establish in a new place: relocated the business. v.intr. the giant wholesale retailer into a larger building. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Work has already started at the Valley Central Shopping Center. The makeover of the mall has been projected to cost up to $25 million. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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