Huntington Beach, CA
Bella Terra
2023
by DJM Capital Partners
Burlington Coat Factory, the oldest of the property's anchor tenants, was downsizing with no plans to renew — entitled and redeveloped into a new 300-unit multifamily building with ground-floor retail.
The Problem :
Burlington Coat Factory, oldest anchor tenant in a decades-old retail building, had been downsizing its footprint for years to match lagging store sales, with no plans to renew its lease. That left a 150,000 square foot, aging, single-use building
without a clear next tenant on the landlord's rent roll.
The longstanding anchor: gone
With the property's oldest anchor tenant downsizing and no plans to renew,
the land itself was evaluated for its highest and best use rather
than spending time, effort, & resources searching
for another single big-box retail replacement
that currently does not exist
in the competitive marketplace.
The
: Strategy
Highest and best use, not another big box
Highest & Best
Use Analysis
Land use options for the parcel were evaluated in depth, and multifamily housing with ground floor retail was identified as the highest and best use for the site —
a more valuable, more active outcome than simply replacing Burlington with another single retail user.
The Improvements:
From a vacant anchor
to 300 new Future homes
A Design Built to Integrate,
Not Just Replace
The new multifamily building was designed to attract new residents to the units while also drawing more foot traffic to the surrounding shopping center —
continuing the rich mix of uses the property had been built and successfully integrated over several decades.
Entitlements Approved
The housing project was successfully entitled, clearing the way for
a new development to replace
the retail anchor building once it's vacated, thus minimizing the impacts
of the vacancy, the lost revenue,
and the reduced foot traffic
to the center as much as possible.
The Results:
Delivering a built-in customer base a retail-only fix couldn't deliver
Entitlement approval is secured for a 300-unit residential building with ground-floor retail —
replacing the property's most outdated, single-use anchor space with a new use
expected to bring both new residents and more foot traffic to the surrounding shopping center,
continuing the mix of uses this property has built successfully over several decades.
It's a project built on top of a property that was already benefiting from other investments elsewhere on site — outdoor gathering space, a coordinated exterior refresh, and a strong dining and entertainment tenant roster.
When constructed, the new building will plug directly into that momentum
and continue building upon it by welcoming thousands of new site visitors to the property every day,
to the benefit of all project stakeholders across Bella Terra.
