Bella Terra’s new look

Dave Brooks

Over the clinking of martini glasses and the incessant drumbeat of

the nearby jazz band, Daisy Hamilton turned to her husband and did

her best to subtly hint at his fashion faux pas.

“Next time we go out honey, please make sure to match your socks

with your shoes,” she tried to whisper.

“It didn’t matter before,” he responded to her.

“It matters now Frank,” she said. “We’re in a restaurant -- a new

restaurant.”

And a chain restaurant at that. Frank and Daisy Hamilton were

visiting the premier opening of the California Pizza Kitchen, the

latest business to open at the new Bella Terra Mall on Edinger

Avenue.

What was once a dilapidated shopping mall epitomizing Huntington’s

Beach’s outdated retail holdings has become a redevelopment rallying

cry, reshaping the way Huntington Beach sees itself.

“It’s good to see that we’re becoming a little more conscious of

our appearance,” said Daisy Hamilton. “I hope the feeling is shared

by others.”

The California Pizza Kitchen opening, just months after the center

unveiled a new Circuit City, was the result of about 18 weeks of

construction, said Clint Coleman, the chain’s vice president of

development. It illustrates a vast departure from the decade it took

the Huntington Beach Mall to be approved and get the rebuilding

underway.

“I’m hoping we’ll see a huge metamorphosis,” he said. “This is

really a great opportunity for change in this area.”

The 1-million-square-foot mall sat empty for years in a huge lot

at the corner of Edinger Avenue and Beach Boulevard. Built in the

1960s by Hahn Co., the center was one of the first indoor malls in

Southern California.

Developer and owner J.H. Synder wanted to radically change that

design, knocking down a large wing of the center in the hopes of

building an outdoor pedestrian mall similar to ones in Santa Monica

and Irvine.

Planning Director Howard Zelefsky approved the designs for the

$140-million remodel in April 2002, but several old elements of the

facility will remain. A Barnes & Noble bookstore and several other

retailers will stay in place, boosted by a facade upgrade. An older

Burlington Coat Factory will also stay on the property. Co-developer

Erzalow Co. tried to get the discount retailer to break its long term

lease on the site in 2001 to no avail. He was also unsuccessful at an

attempt to get the City Council to condemn the retailer during an

eminent domain hearing earlier that year.

The new Italian-themed shopping center will include four

courtyards, an outdoor amphitheater and a 20-screen movie theater

with stadium seating.

Most of the mall is still in the construction phase, its anchor

Kohl’s department store flanked at both ends by wooden skeletons

recently holstered into cement foundations.

“It looks like we are going to finish on time,” said J.H. Synder

Partner Milt Swimmer. “We had some rain and some mud, but we’re still

in good shape for most of our tenants opening on time.”

The Bed, Bath and Beyond center is set to open with most of the

mall in August or September, while the movie theater is scheduled to

open in early December .