Triangle Square cantina clears first hurdle

In a positive development for Triangle Square, Costa Mesa staffers

are recommending the city’s planning commission give the go-ahead for

a Mexican restaurant to do business at the shopping center.

In July, city staffers cited insufficient parking at the mall when

they advised the planning commission to block the new restaurant,

Chronic Cantina. The commission decided to give Triangle Square

management a chance to clear up questions about parking before

deciding whether to let the cantina become part of the shopping

center, which has several vacancies.

Chronic Cantina and Chronic Tacos on West Coast Highway are owned

by KSDB Inc. Keith Scheinberg of KSDB said he initially hoped to open

the cantina this summer and is now looking forward to a winter

opening.

“If we can get in before the Super Bowl, it’s going to be a good

fit,” he said.

The leasing plan for the restaurant, which allowed city staffers

to reverse course and recommend a green light for Chronic Cantina,

also sheds light on the future of Triangle Square’s most prominent

vacancy. Niketown, an athletic retailer, left the mall in January.

Before the store’s departure, its sign greeted drivers exiting the

Costa Mesa Freeway (55).

The leasing plan contained in a city document states that Triangle

Square’s management company, Charles Dunn Real Estate Services, plans

to lease Niketown’s former space to a furniture store. Furniture

stores have lower parking requirements than other retail shops.

Mall management also told city staffers they plan to free up

parking spaces to accommodate the restaurant’s expected crowds by

dedicating a portion of the vacant supermarket space in the mall’s

lowest level to storage.

Mall spokeswoman Vanessa Showalter confirmed Triangle Square

management is looking to fill Niketown’s former home with a furniture

store, though no deal has been made.

Additional restaurants may be allowed at Triangle Square, but they

would have to be fast-food restaurants of the variety that used to

fill the mall’s food court, said Mike Robinson, Costa Mesa’s

assistant development services director.

Triangle Square’s current leasing plan is to fill food-court

vacancies with retail shops instead of new restaurants.

The planning commission is scheduled to decide at its Sept. 12

meeting whether to allow Chronic Cantina to open at Triangle Square.

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

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at

[email protected].