Building Bella Terra

With less than two months to go before its unofficial “soft opening,”

crews are working at a hurried pace to finish the new Bella Terra

mall in Huntington Beach.

Visitors to the area have likely noticed changes, including the

opening of several stores along the perimeter of the property. These

include REI, which drew in hundreds of people for its three-day grand

opening in August.

New owner John Miller of San Jose-based DJM Capital Partners said

the mall is building from the outside in, developing some of its

anchor shops and restaurants before completing the interior of the

outdoor mall, which will include a 20-screen movie theater and

Tuscan-style shopping village.

When customers drive up now, they see the four newly built retail

stores on the border of the mall, anchored by Kohl’s. A crowned

entryway greets visitors to the center, which is adorned with

cobblestone pathways and handmade cast-iron lighting fixtures.

A surprise awaits visitors at the center of the new mall: an

outdoor plaza modeled after similar venues in Florence, Italy.

Flanked by a massive clock tower, the soon-to-be-finished movie

theaters and a water fountain and amphitheater, the plaza will serve

as a gathering point for shoppers, Miller said.

“This is one of the areas that we’re most proud of,” he said.

“It’s the congregation of the entire center, a place where everyone

can meet.”

Each shop in the new mall enjoys a slightly different

architectural theme from its neighbors, as well as a different

exterior paint, although all stores in the mall use some variation of

an earth tone.

“Like they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day. If you go to Italy,

every building is different than the next because their cities were

built over hundreds of years,” Miller said.

Miller and other investors acquired the one-million-square-foot

shopping center from developer J.H. Snyder in August for a reported

$228 million.

Building the mall took more than a decade, a process that included

multiple battles with the city on issues ranging from eminent domain

to the allocation of sales-tax dollars.

Despite the headaches, head developer Milt Swimmer of J.H. Snyder

said the process was worth it.

“Our development experience with the city of Huntington Beach has

been extremely positive throughout the course of project,” he said.

The mall was first built in 1966 and thrived for decades, but the

original owner’s failure to maintain the center in the late 1980s and

1990s brought about its demise and eventual sale to the firm Ezralow,

which then worked with J.H. Snyder to rebuild the mall.

Unlike the old indoor facility, the new outdoor shopping center

will include shops facing in all directions, as well as a new

1,540-space parking structure and police substation.

Miller said the mall’s movie theater will likely be opened by Nov.

15, two months later than expected, because of rain delays.

There is still work to be done on the main plaza -- dirt paths

still serve as walkways, and none of the retail units seem to

occupied, although Miller said the mall is 90% leased.

“We still have some work to do, but the transition in ownership

has been very smooth, and things seem to be moving on time,” Miller

said. “We’re really excited about doing business with Huntington

Beach.”

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