Torrance, Cerritos move ahead on major redevelopment projects.

Torrance and Cerritos are two Southland cities traditionally best known for their sprawling shopping centers and auto malls. The Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance and Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos have become de facto downtowns for these growing cities.

But now city officials in Torrance and Cerritos are hoping to expand their cities' commercial renown by undertaking large-scale redevelopment projects.

The Cerritos project involves converting 125 acres of former dairy fields into the Cerritos Towne Center. When completed in 1993, the city and private-sector developers will together have spent more than $150 million, including $60 million on a six-building performing arts center.

"When this gets open, Cerritos is going to be known for much more than having the most successful auto mall," promised City Manager Art Gallucci. "The plan has not happened as fast as we would have liked because of the economy. But we've been happy just to have development going. We think it's a first-class development that will allow us to keep up our property values."

The development's components include office towers, a hotel, the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts and, although it might sound redundant, another shopping center.

The performing arts center is scheduled to open Jan. 13 with a Frank Sinatra concert. The center is a major ingredient to the overall success of the redevelopment project, Gallucci said.

Cerritos is roughly midway between the Dorothy Chandler Music Center in downtown Los Angeles and Orange County's Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. It is hoped that Cerritos' cultural events will be able to draw the city's 58,000 residents, in addition to other southern L.A. County residents who drive to downtown Los Angeles and Orange County for their cultural outings. With scheduled events such as Mikhail Baryshnikov's only Southern California appearance in 1993, the Cerritos center is hoping to be able to compete with the more-established venues.

In addition to a main theater that has seating for 1,500, there is an adjacent building with a 5,000-square-foot main hall that can accommodate trade shows and conferences. Victor Gottsman, the center's general manager, said, "We hope the performing arts center will be the redevelopment's focal point -- a magnet that will attract other developers and corporations."

The 203-room Sheraton hotel was the first piece of the Cerritos redevelopment project to open two years ago. And business has been slow there, with occupancy rates under 60 percent, according to General Manager Kathy Ray. She said that she does not expect to reach her 80 percent occupancy goal until at least 1994, when the entire redevelopment is scheduled for completion.

The three office towers built as part of the Cerritos redevelopment project were erected by Transpacific Development Co. and are 95-percent leased, according to Thomas Irish, vice president at TDC. L.A. Cellular occupies 80,000 square feet in one of the 140,000-square-foot buildings. Systemhouse Inc. has taken 42,000 in the other seven-story, 140,000-square-foot tower. ADP occupies all 50,000 square feet of the third tower.

"We have been pleased with how fast we have leased up," Irish said. "We were surprised to find companies looking to move from downtown Los Angeles and the Westside. They are interested in Cerritos because it's midway between Los Angeles and Orange County and is close to three airports -- John Wayne, LAX and Long Beach."

Irish said TDC's annual rental rates have been in the $20-per-square-foot range. A fourth building containing 50,000 square feet of space will also be built if a single tenant signs on for the entire building. TDC will also construct other buildings on the site if demand materializes, Irish said.

The new $50 million Cerritos Towne Center shopping center will have 415,000 square feet of space on a 40-acre site. It is being developed by Vestar Development Co. of Phoenix. Construction is scheduled to start in January and retailers expect to be open next November. This center is less than five miles from the sprawling 21-year-old Los Cerritos Center, which has five anchor department stores, including Nordstrom. Despite the competition, Lee Hanley, president of Vestar, maintained that the area is "under-served."

Hanley said, "Although we are only three miles away from the large enclosed mall, we can offer an open-air community center with value-oriented tenants. It hasn't been difficult getting those tenants because there are so few large retail projects being built in Southern California because of constraints in the capital markets."

Vestar's anchors include a 120,000-square-foot Wal-Mart, which will open its first South Bay store there. The other anchors are Smith's, a grocery store, and a 10-screen Edward's Cinema, with 44,000 square feet of space. Hanley said the Cerritos Towne Center is about 90-percent leased, with tenants paying "top of the market rates." He declined to disclose the value of the leases, or the rates.

Meanwhile, over in Torrance, that city's redevelopment project also has a mixed-use dimension. But its emphasis is on residential real estate, while Cerritos' project emphasizes commercial and retail uses. The $44 million Torrance project features 179 condominiums in the city's downtown district, adjacent to a rehabilitated retail district. Torrance city planners have modeled their project loosely on Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade, which has breathed new life into that city's downtown by creating an open-air pedestrian mall.

The condominiums in Torrance are being built by Gascon Mar Ltd., a San Diego-based developer. Gascon has been involved in other South Bay projects and is currently developing Carson's Golden Eagle Center, a 76-acre office/retail complex. By building relatively low-priced housing in downtown Torrance that ranges from around $110,000 to $298,000, city and Gascon officials hope to attract 400 new residents downtown, said Mary Garrity, market coordinator for Gascon.

Amenities to serve the new downtown residents will come at a now-vacant, 14,000-square-foot Newberry's store, which is being rehabilitated and converted into a grocery store. In addition, 26,000 square feet of additional new retail space will be created, and it is hoped at least one restaurant will become a major tenant.

Plans call for a former X-rated theater to be converted into a general-audience cinema, according to Terrence Yoo, assistant city planner for the City of Torrance. Yoo said the downtown sidewalks are being widened and new street seating is being constructed to create a pedestrian thoroughfare. Yoo added that he hopes the project will serve as a catalyst for further interest in downtown Torrance development.

The current redevelopment project is scheduled to be completed by October 1993. Leasing for the retail space and condo sales are both scheduled to start in June.