Virgin Megastore will stay

Elia Powers

Bucking fears that Niketown’s January departure from Triangle Square

might lead others to follow suit, Virgin Megastore announced Monday

that it would renew its lease for one year.

The deal with the entertainment store, one of the original tenants

of the retail complex at 19th Street and Newport Boulevard, had been

in the works for a few months, said Josh Shapiro of Shapco Realty,

which handles leasing for Triangle Square.

Terms of the deal were not announced due to confidentiality

agreements. Shapiro said the agreement was finalized last week.

Virgin Megastore has occupied a 13,912-square-foot section of the

mall for more than 12 years.

Shapiro said he is hopeful that the announcement will give the

mall momentum.

“It should help fill up some of the vacancies and help the

existing tenants,” Shapiro said. “It will bring in traffic and rent

for the landlord and bring sales tax for the city.”

The Virgin Entertainment Group operates 20 U.S. Megastores and is

one of the largest media product retail chains in the world.

Representatives at the company could not be reached for comment.

The store’s one-year lease is the latest in a series of short-term

agreements at Triangle Square, which has struggled to keep and

attract tenants since opening in 1992. The center has also suffered

from repeated management changes, including going through six

marketing directors in a four-year period that ended in 2001.

“We are preserving them [the businesses] for now,” Shapiro said.

“All the stores want to see what’s going to happen.”

Shapiro said Barnes & Noble recently inked a one-year agreement,

and Virgin Megastore had previously signed on for a year, as well.

Last July, Edwards Theaters agreed to stay at Triangle Square for

at least five years, giving hope to those concerned about the mall’s

long-term vitality.

Still, much of the upper-level food court is abandoned, and two

supermarkets built in Triangle Squares’ basement have departed in

recent years.

Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce President Ed Fawcett said the

latest lease agreement is a step in the right direction.

“It’s nice to see that Virgin sees the desirability of staying in

the center,” Fawcett said. “They are a good draw and a good tenant.

It lends some hope that others will stay and be moving in.”

Fawcett agreed with Shapiro that one-year leases indicate that

stores are taking a wait-and-see approach.

Shapiro said Triangle Square is in the process of negotiating with

a “major gym” company to fill the 40,000-square-foot space last left

vacant by Whole Foods. He wouldn’t specify which company had been

contacted.

He said the concept of Triangle Square is to have a gym on the

bottom level, retailers on the street level and an improved

entertainment and dining space on the top floor.

Shapiro said filling the vacancy left by Niketown is a priority.

Officials cited high vacancy rates as a reason for leaving.

Shapiro said discussions with clothing retail store the Closet to

fill that space didn’t pan out.

“We’d rather wait and put a long-term retail tenant in, rather

than do something quick,” Shapiro said.

He said his company is hoping to hold meetings with property

manager Charles Dunn Real Estate Services Inc. and the city of Costa

Mesa in the coming months.

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

elia.powers@latimes.com.