Downtown gets ready for the Strand

Jenny Marder

The revamp of the first several blocks of Downtown is on its way to

becoming a reality, now that all tenants have been evacuated, all

lawsuits settled and parking expanded to accommodate the drastic

swell in shoppers that city officials expect the project will draw.

On Oct. 31, Papa Joe’s Pizza moved from its spot Downtown,

officially leaving the remaining building on the Strand project site

empty of tenants.

Next week, workers will begin drilling to re-abandon the five oil

wells on site. The next phase, the installation of water, sewer and

storm drain pipes could begin as soon as late December. Construction

is expected to start during the first quarter of 2004, said David

Biggs, the city’s director of economic development.

The CIM Group Inc. secured city approval to build the

225,000-square-foot development Downtown Oct. 21, 2002. The project,

which will be bordered by Main Street, Walnut Avenue, Pacific Coast

Highway and 6th Street, will include a 149-room Residence Inn hotel

and several high-end shops.

“This will add quite a bit of additional retail to the Downtown

core,” Biggs said. “It should be an exciting addition. ... It will

work well to complement what we have on Main Street.”

Shops will include Pacific Sunwear, Ben and Jerry’s, Johnny

Rockets, a new sushi restaurant and a coffee shop called It’s a

Grind, Project Manager David Martin said.

CIM officials have also been in talks with stores such as

Abercrombie and Fitch and Ann Taylor Loft.

“The idea is to offer some better shopping options,” Martin said.

“It seems like now, people might go out of the area to Newport or

South Coast Plaza for some of their shopping. The idea is to provide

retail options in the Downtown area so that people can stay in

Huntington Beach and not have to leave the city.”

The project will include a subterranean parking lot with at least

500 parking spaces, 100 more than originally proposed.

“We’ve enlarged the garage to accommodate more spaces,” said Jeff

Mindes, another project manager. “We are provided more spaces than

the demand will require.”

The two lawsuits filed earlier this year by the project’s chief

opponent, a group called Citizens for Redevelopment Excess, have been

settled.

The group’s main complaint was that the project would clog already

crowded Downtown parking.

James Lane, a spokesman for the group, is still skeptical that 500

spaces will be enough to accommodate traffic, yet called it a huge

improvement over 400 spaces.

“I wish that this kind of compromise or agreement had occurred

earlier so that property owners did not have to sue the city over

lack of parking,” Lane said.

Mindes predicted construction will take about 16 months. He is hoping to see the project open in spring 2006.