MALL RENOVATION AHEAD OF SCHEDULE NEW RESTAURANTS, UPDATED LOOK IN WORKS IN BURBANK.

Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer

BURBANK - A renovation of the Media City Center that will place two new restaurants at the southeast entrance and make it more inviting is moving ahead of schedule, officials said.

The $7 million project - the first of three phases in an upgrade of the 12-year-old mall - could be finished by June, said James O'Neil, executive vice president of Crown Realty & Development.

``Everything is ahead of schedule; we're doing very well,'' he said.

The completed project, at Magnolia and San Fernando boulevards, will feature a P.F. Chang's as well as another restaurant, plus a remodeled, pitched-roof entrance with stone, glass, slate, new color schemes and special lighting.

``The previous look of the mall was a little too institutional, and we're trying to make it warm and homey and a place where people want to be,'' O'Neil said.

The Burbank City Council voted 4-1 in May 2003 to allow valet parking and a pick-up and drop-off site along Magnolia. The valet service will be for both restaurant and mall patrons, O'Neil said.

A previous owner of the mall, Center Trust, had planned a $25 million remodeling in 2001, but those plans were set aside during an ownership shuffle. Crown Realty bought the mall in March and is moving forward with the now $30 million project, according to the company.

Work on the second phase of the project to upgrade the first floor of the mall is scheduled to begin before the summer, O'Neil said.

Crown Realty is seeking to bring in a home furnishings retailer and other big-box outlets for the first floor, which is largely vacant, according to the company.

A carousel built in 1895 is located on the first floor, and, in the early stages of the project, some were concerned that it would be forced out. A carousel enthusiast circulated a petition to keep it at the mall. But, O'Neil said, the carousel ``right now is planned to stay exactly where it's at.''

That is reassuring to Colin Stewart, one of the owners of Story Time Books, a business next to the carousel.

``I'd like to think that we're the biggest draw here, but we're not; the carousel is the biggest draw, and we feed from them,'' Stewart said.

For the second phase of the project, Crown Realty hopes to have one or two of the new stores open in November, O'Neil said.

The third phase of the project is still on the drawing board but will involve an upgrade to the food court area. The goal is to complete the entire project within two years, O'Neil said.

Alex Dobuzinskis, [phone]

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

The Magnolia Boulevard entrance of the Media City Center is shrouded during its renovation.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer