Theater commitment a big, square deal

Alicia Robinson

Edwards Theaters will operate its eight-screen cinema at Triangle

Square for at least five more years, a sign that better times may be

ahead for the frequently troubled retail center.

Shopping center officials announced the theater renewed its lease

last week but did not disclose terms of the lease. The previous lease

was due to expire this month.

The five-year length of the lease is “actually a pretty good

sign,” said Josh Shapiro of Triangle Square leasing firm Charles

Dunn.

“This is one of their anchor tenants, and for Triangle Square,

when an anchor tenant commits to another five years, it restores hope

with a lot of the other tenants,” he said.

Triangle Square has struggled with frequent management changes and

store vacancies over the years, but shopping center officials have

said they’re confident things are starting to look up. Edwards

Theaters officials could not be reached for comment on the lease.

The theater opened in 1989 and has been operated by Edwards

Theaters since 1990. It draws a good crowd because it’s the only

movie theater in a three-mile radius, Shapiro said.

“A lot of people, since they live in the area, actually appreciate

Triangle Square because of its convenience,” said Steele Platt, chief

executive of the Yardhouse restaurant, a popular staple at Triangle

Square since it opened nearly five years ago. “A lot of the comments

I get back from people is it’s easy to get in because there’s not a

big crowd.”

Not everyone is satisfied with the way Triangle Square development

has performed as a whole. Costa Mesa Planning Commissioner Bill

Perkins said he’s glad the theater renewed its lease because he and

his wife go there frequently, but the theater alone doesn’t draw

enough crowds to put the center on an even keel.

“I’m still very disappointed that [shopping center officials] have

not furthered their efforts to do anything as far as the community’s

concerned,” Perkins said. “The problem that Triangle Square is

running into is that it hasn’t been a community player.”

The shopping center needs to attract more long-term tenants and

hold events to bring people there, he said. For now, the Edwards

theater and the Yardhouse “are really the only things keeping it

afloat,” Perkins said.

Officials are mulling another possibility to attract more patrons

to the theater -- converting it to stadium seating, which would

decrease the number of seats but add the larger, more comfortable

seats most new theaters have.

“Stadium seating is definitely something that we are very

interested in doing, but nothing is definite yet,” Shapiro said.

It will probably be a year before they make a decision because

they’re waiting to see how a new theater in Huntington Beach does,

Shapiro said. That theater, slated to open this fall, will have 20

screens and state-of-the-art amenities. The Huntington Beach theater

will be more than seven miles away, so it’s not expected to hurt

Edwards at Triangle Square, but officials are still keeping an eye on

it, Shapiro said.

“They want to wait before they put any big money into anything to

see what this [new] theater can do with stadium seating,” he said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.