Yet another factory outlet/discount mall is on way - this time to Carson.

Los Angeles County's second factory outlet/discount mall is scheduled to break ground next spring in Carson if its developers are able to secure all required approvals and tenants.

L.A. Metromall is a 1.2 million-square-foot, $200 million mall jointly proposed by two developers, Century City-based Sonnenblick-Goldman Corp. of California and Carson-based Carson Realty Project Inc.

The mall is the 80-acre first phase of a larger, 157-acre mixed-use planned project called Metro 2000. In its entirety, Metro 2000 would include 5 million square feet of retail space, office and hotel towers, residential apartments, condominiums and senior citizens housing.

The developers said all financing for the mall has been secured and tenants have already signed letters of intent to lease half the shopping center's space. They also said they have secured some of the necessary approvals, with the rest pending.

L.A. Metromall is being financed by the Glaziers Pension Fund and California Properties Fund, both Los Angeles-based, said Robert Sonnenblick, managing director of Sonnenblick-Goldman.

Major retailers that have signed letters of intent to lease space include Ross Dress for Less for 35,000 square feet and Service Merchandisers, a large Tennessee-based jewelry discounter seeking 50,000 square feet.

The developers are also in negotiations to lease to a Nordstrom Rack, a Saks Fifth Avenue Clearing House and a Loehmann's, although nothing with these retailers has been signed, Sonnenblick said.

Some smaller tenants that have signed letters of intent to lease space include Contempo Casuals, Clothestime and Payless Shoes, which all plan to open off-price outlets in the mall. In total, prospective tenants have signed letters of intent for a total of 600,000 square feet of space, Sonnenblick said.

But Adolfo Reyes, redevelopment project manager of the City of Carson, said L.A. Metromall is not in the bag yet.

The project is "in the promotional stage." The developers are trying to get commitments from tenants and "have told us they've succeeded," Reyes said.

The Carson Redevelopment Agency hasn't received any plans for the project, he added.

But Sonnenblick said the developers are processing their conditional use permit with the City of Carson, and the permit should be issued in March or April 1993.

One cause of concern is the mall site is on landfill, which could pose problems for the developers, retail experts said, because landfill is constantly in a state of movement and often emits gas.

But Sonnenblick said the problem is solved. The state Department of Health Services is requiring the developers to install a methane gas extraction system under the building's foundations, which will act like a vacuum cleaner to suck up the gas, he said.

The gas will then be processed through a $1 million generator installed on the premises and will be supplied to the tenants, for use in their stores, Sonnenblick added.

The developers are also awaiting approval from Caltrans to build an offramp from the 405 (San Diego) Freeway that will lead directly to Metro 2000, he said.

Mark McGaughy, first vice president at the Los Angeles office of CB Commercial Real Estate Services, said Carson would be ideal for a factory outlet/discount mall.

"It would be a great site for such a venture," he said, adding that it's probably the finest piece of raw real estate left in L.A. County.

But other retail experts said they are more skeptical because the factory outlet mall's proximity to other regional malls could cause conflicts.

Factory outlet malls sell the same name-brand products as department stores at conventional malls, but at cheaper prices. Thus, some department store officials resent outlet malls and often get angry when they are built close to their own stores, explained Dick Carter, senior retail associate with the Sherman Oaks office of Beitler Commercial Realty Services.

Typically, factory outlet malls are located far away from conventional malls because products the factory outlet mall sells at a discount would otherwise directly compete with products in the mainstream stores, said Ted Lawson, senior vice president at the South Bay office of CB Commercial.

L.A. Metromall would be within miles of Del Amo Fashion Center, the Galleria at South Bay and Carson Mall, said Howard Wong, retail properties specialist with the South Bay office of Grubb & Ellis Co.

"It would be great if they (the developers) could pull it off," he said.