Triangle Square measures new angle on its future

Andrew Edwards

If all goes to Nike Inc.’s plans, drivers -- and potential shoppers

-- will no longer see Niketown’s flashy facade after exiting the

Costa Mesa Freeway. The loss of Niketown would be the latest blow to

the shopping center where retailers have had continued difficulty

staying in business.

When Nike last week announced it intended to leave Triangle Square

on Jan. 30, the company cited high vacancy rates at the mall as its

chief reason for leaving. Though Nike and Triangle Square officials

disagreed on the mall’s occupancy rate, a walk through the shopping

center reveals many empty storefronts, especially on the second

floor. The upper level looks like the kind of place where a local can

point out to their out-of-town friends where old hangouts used to be.

Business owners and Costa Mesa officials offer a variety of

opinions on the sources leading to Triangle Square’s difficulties,

citing dissatisfaction with mall ownership and other issues, such as

troubles with parking and traffic. Despite current hardships, though,

business owners and the mall’s management seem to agree on the

direction the center should take -- transforming Triangle Square into

an entertainment-driven center for local nightlife.

In a written reply to questions, a Triangle Square spokesperson

stated the center’s business strategy is to attempt to emulate the

success of Sutra Lounge and the Yard House by attracting nighttime

restaurants to the mall’s upper level. Steele Platt, chief executive

of Yard House Restaraunts, LLC, said restaurants have a better chance

at Triangle Square, as they are better able to draw customers to the

mall than retail stores relying on foot traffic.

“It would be nice if they did something similar to Sutra,” Platt

said, noting that he was considering developing a proposal to build a

nightclub where Niketown is located.

“That’s what Orange County needs: It doesn’t need more retail, it

needs more entertainment,” he said.

Businesses already at and planning to move into the shopping

center rely on their ability to attract customers, owners agreed.

“People will come in sporadically just from walking around, but

people usually come here because we’re a destination,” Executive Tans

owner Marcus Drew said.

A new Mexican restaurant, Chronic Cantina, is slated to arrive at

Triangle Square in the summer, said Dan Biello, president of KSDB

Inc., which owns the cantina, and Chronic Tacos in Newport Beach.

Biello plans to feature live music at the cantina and wants to market

Triangle Square as a hip nightspot. He said he wasn’t very worried

about Niketown’s impending departure because he expects to get

customers on his own.

“It’s a destination draw; you have to bring your own clientele,”

Biello said.

A question of management

Though many business owners said they were satisfied with property

manager Charles Dunn Real Estate Services, Inc., some said the mall’s

owners, Pasadena-based Triangle Square LLC, have not been aggressive

enough in securing new tenants.

“I think they [Charles Dunn] are handicapped by the actual

ownership of Triangle Square,” Planning Commissioner Bill Perkins

said.

“There’s a lot of things we would like them to respond to,” said

Brandon Lee, a partner at Sushi Zen. “As you can see, there are a lot

of vacancies.”

Newcomers to Triangle Square said it was tough to make a deal with

the owners.

“It was brutal,” said business owner Duke Wong, describing his

efforts to negotiate a lease at Triangle Square. Wong is part-owner

of a Kelly’s Coffee and Fudge Factory franchise that is slated to go

into business on Triangle Square’s upper level this spring. “They

told us twice: ‘No deal.’”

Niketown’s announcement came after Wong and Triangle Square

finally worked out a deal. Though initially troubled by the news,

Wong said the mall lacks a place to buy coffee and believes his

business can succeed there.

Triangle Square’s spokesperson said owners are active in

day-to-day management and leasing and are the primary decision makers

at the mall.

In the past year, Edwards Theaters, Virgin Megastore, General

Nutrition Center, Barnes and Noble Booksellers and Bon Bon Sticky

Fingers renewed their leases at Triangle Square. John Conley, retail

manager for Nordic Track, said the owners have been hard at work

looking for new businesses.

“They’ve been aggressively trying to get people up there,” Conley

said.

A representative from Nike declined to comment on Nike’s

interactions with the mall’s owners.

A role for the city?

Members of the City Council and Planning Commission have varying

opinions on what, if anything, city officials can do to jump-start

business at Triangle Square.

Mayor Allan Mansoor said he believes the city can only do for

Triangle Square what it does for everyone else: work to keep traffic

flowing and the city safe.

Councilman Eric Bever added that while the city can work to

improve traffic along Newport Boulevard, the onus to improve parking

and business conditions at Triangle Square largely falls on the

owners.

“It’s incumbent on the business owners,” Bever said. “They need to

initiate that.”

Councilwoman Katrina Foley argued for a more active city role.

“We can try to recruit businesses to come there,” she said. “We

are not being as proactive as we could be when it comes to recruiting

the types of businesses we want in our city.”

Many cities interested in attracting retail conduct studies to

find out what kinds of businesses can work in their city, and then

attend conventions or make direct calls to try and court businesses,

said Wayne Shell, president of the California Assn. for Local

Economic Development, an association of public- and private-sector

groups involved in development.

Though Planning Commissioner Bruce Garlich said he did not know

exactly what could be done to fix Triangle Square, he said officials

should remain open to working with business owners toward a solution.

“The city should just take the approach of being open to any

collaborative effort to help,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s

anything the city can do, but it would be nice to have that

dialogue.”

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at [email protected].