Eminent buyer for Wards

Dave Brooks

Almost five years after the developer of the Huntington Beach Mall

fought to use the state’s powers of eminent domain to take over the

nearby Montgomery Wards department store, the empty store is changing

hands in a more conventional way -- it’s being bought.

Ending years of controversy, the site’s owner, Sears, Roebuck &

Co., has agreed to sell the department store on Edinger Avenue to

J.H. Snyder, current owner of the Huntington Beach Mall.

In an unrelated move, Snyder plans to sell its holdings of the

Huntington Beach Mall to an undisclosed buyer. Because the mall was

partially funded using taxpayer redevelopment money, the sale has to

be approved by city officials. Details of that transaction will be

made available in the coming months.

In September, the mall is scheduled to reopen as “Bella Terra,” a

58-acre lifestyle center complete with new restaurants, department

stores and a 20-screen, 4,000-seat Century Theaters multiplex. The

purchase of the Montgomery Wards building, which is next to the

$170-million mall, could usher in a second phase of development along

Edinger Avenue, a highly traveled Huntington Beach corridor many city

leaders say is in dire need of a remodel.

J.H. Snyder senior partner Milton Swimmer confirmed the sale last

week.

“We are under contract with Sears to buy that building,” Swimmer

said. As for the future of the site, Swimmer would only say that

“we’re evaluating all our options.”

Huntington Beach City Councilman Keith Bohr was happy the old

department store finally sold.

“As it sits empty right now, it’s bringing in zero tax dollars,”

he said. “I’d love to see it integrated with a new operator so that

it can begin generating new sales tax revenue.”

The future of the site remains unclear, but Bohr said he’d be

interested in seeing the building demolished and rebuilt into a

Costco. Bohr said he’s been in discussion with Costco representative

Greg Vina about the site. Although Vina could not comment for this

story, Bohr said he’s seen figures indicating the average Costco

brings in about $115 million a year.

At the Costco in Fountain Valley, Bohr said, about $80 million of

the store’s annual revenue comes from Huntington Beach residents.

Whatever the outcome, the sale of the 30-year-old Montgomery Wards

department store marks the end of a decade-long battle. In the fall

of 2000, Montgomery Wards officials bitterly fought alongside

Burlington Coat Factory to be included in a planned redevelopment of

the Huntington Beach Mall. After surviving the failed attempt to use

eminent domain, Montgomery Wards went kaput a few months later when

top company officials announced the chain was going bankrupt.

The building was then sold to Sears, which initially planned to

convert the space into a Great Outdoors concept store. Poor sales at

other U.S. locations killed the Great Outdoors concept before it

could reach Huntington Beach, and the department store has sat empty

since Montgomery Ward’s 2001 bankruptcy.

QUESTION

Would you like to see the old Montgomery Wards building torn down

and replaced with a Costco store? Call our Reader’s Hotline at (714)

966-4691 or send e-mail to hbindependent@latimes.com. Please spell

your name and include your hometown and phone number for verification

purposes.

* DAVE BROOKS covers City Hall. He can be reached at (714)

966-4609 or by e-mail at dave.brooks@latimes.com.