New and improved Huntington Center

-- Eron Ben-Yehuda

Breathing life into the Huntington Center mall is a top priority for

newly appointed Mayor Dave Garofalo, who hopes to preside over a ceremony

next year for the demolition of the aging center’s decrepit core -- the

abandoned Broadway building.

“Give people hope,” he has said.

The future for the ailing mall at the corner of Edinger Avenue and Beach

Boulevard already appears brighter since a new owner came along in July.

Irvine-based Ezralow Retail Properties LLC paid $50 million and may spend

another $50 million building an open-air mall with new retail stores,

restaurants and a movie theater.

City officials are so eager to share at least part of the success enjoyed

by nearby Westminster Mall, South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island that

they are negotiating ways to subsidize Ezralow’s development costs.

The city certainly doesn’t want a repeat of its failed relationship with

the Macerich Co., which took over in late 1996. It initially had promised

a mall along the same lines proposed by Ezralow. But earlier this year,

Macerich’s plans were dramatically scaled back after Wall Street

investors became concerned the developer was overextending itself. The

revised plan left the city wanting more and Macerich looking for new

opportunities elsewhere.

Some officials worry that Ezralow, which specializes in smaller shopping

centers, also may be in over its head, and they point to the hefty sum

paid for the property as proof.