Corner Office hangs on

COSTA MESA — A red and white “Now Hiring” sign hangs from the awning of the Corner Office Sports Bar and Grill, behind a line of cars that crowd the end of this mostly deserted parking lot.

Inside, the neon Budweiser and Miller beer signs shine over the windows.

Five widescreen televisions, renowned for showing five different games at once, loom impressively on the wall.

The other doors at the Lakes Pavilions Retail Center are locked, with windows showing barren counters and the residues of moving out.

Before long, the entire center is expected to be demolished to make room for a high-rise residential complex. Corner Office managers Duane Heldt and Stephanie Potter, however, are intent on keeping their business alive until the owners ask them to leave.

“I got the best viewing here in Orange County,” Heldt said Wednesday, gesturing to the televisions situated in the room.

When the screens, and the shopping center around them, go down, it will begin a new phase in Costa Mesa.

The City Council approved plans in January for five high-rise complexes to be built at the north end of the city.

The towers, each proposed by a different developer, would bring more than 1,200 residential units and 241,000 square feet of office and retail space to the area near South Coast Plaza and the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

One of the complexes, known as the Californian at Town Center, would replace the Lakes Pavilions Retail Center with two 25-story towers.

The City Council has approved the complex’s master plan, although the developer, Fifield Companies in Irvine, will need to get approvals before it can start construction.

Meanwhile, the shopping center is down to its last signs of life. David W. Jann Associates, a hearing aid store, has moved to Santa Ana, while the former Avo’s Bistro features a sign in the window announcing its new home in Huntington Beach.

The Ocean Park cleaner sports a note on its door listing the names of clients who haven’t picked up their clothes, with the instruction to call the building’s owner, America West Properties, to arrange a delivery.

Members of the Costa Mesa Planning Department said they expect construction to begin on the high-rises within the next few years, although no official dates have been set.

Mike Robinson, the city’s assistant development services director, said the new projects could give Costa Mesa a revitalized downtown.

“We’re excited to see the transformation of that area, so we’re looking forward to it,” he said.