CITYSCAPE ROUNDUP:Panel to look at Bella Terra

The remaking of Bella Terra into a thriving outdoor mall will be the subject of a case study on Feb. 20.

Bella Terra, formerly the Huntington Center Mall, had been built in the 1950s. The rundown mall had been failing until the city approved a $140-million project by developers J.H. Snyder Co. The renovation called for building four major courtyards, a 4,000-seat amphitheater and a 20-screen movie theater in 2002.

Bella Terra opened last year with much fanfare and now boasts premium restaurants and retail outlets.

The panel will discuss the trend of reinventing outdated malls across the nation into vibrant retail centers. The program is organized by the Orange County Division of the League of California Cities and the Huntington Beach and Westminster Chambers of Commerce at Century Theaters in Bella Terra.

Panel members will include Assistant City Manager of Redondo Beach David Biggs, Huntington Beach Councilwoman Debbie Cook and Milt Swimmer, senior partner with J. H. Snyder. The panel will talk about Bella Terra’s redevelopment process, guiding principles, challenges, and key points to success from public and private perspectives.

Senior Resident Fellow Michael Beyard from the Urban Land Institute will moderate the forum. For more information or to register online go to www.uli.org/register or call (800) 321-5011.

Marines to escort Miss H.B. contestants

Camp Pendleton Marines have been drafted to escort Miss Huntington Beach contestants to the ball. Sixteen members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines — known at the Thundering Third — will accompany 14 contestants during the evening-wear round of the Feb. 3 scholarship pageant. All 16 Marines are to be deployed to Iraq in March. The battalion was adopted by the city in 2005. The pageant is organized by the Women of Action, a division of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce. For more information, visit www.misshb.org.

City begins pavement repairs

The city has begun construction to improve segments of three main thoroughfares. The project will improve existing pavements in segments on Adams Avenue between Magnolia Street and the Santa Ana River, Bolsa Chica Street between Warner Avenue and Rancho Road, and Goldenwest Street between Warner Avenue and McFadden Avenue. Overgrown trees that are damaging pavements will be cut down and replaced with smaller trees and groups of plants.

The $7-million project, overseen by the Public Works Department, will be funded by gas taxes and a $2.8-million federal grant.

Historic hotel to become recovery center

Huntington Beach’s historic digs for surfers and students from all over the world is set to be transformed into a treatment center for troubled teenagers. The hostel, known as the Evangeline Hotel when it opened in 1906, sits on Eighth Street and was sold last year. Plans are afoot to transform the house’s 18 rooms into a 35-bed rehab facility. It would cost about $7,500 monthly for a teenager to complete the center’s 90-day program. However, residents have been worried about having teenagers with drug, alcohol or behavioral issues in the neighborhood. The center will be run by the Southern California Alcohol and Drug Recovery Foundation.

Surf City office, industrial buildings sold

A Newport Beach-based real estate investor announced Tuesday its acquisition of the Huntington Beach Plaza and Huntington Beach Commerce Center for $20 million.

CT Realty Corp. plans to invest about $1 million to improve the two office centers. At the Huntington Beach Plaza in the 5700 block of Bolsa Avenue, the company plans to split two larger office suites into smaller units and make other upgrades to the interior as well as meet tenant specific requirements. The building is 77% occupied with three open suites.

The other buildings, which are used for flex and industrial uses, are on Graham Street and Oceanus Drive near Graham Street. The buildings are almost 100% occupied.

The buildings were bought from Los Angeles-based Arden Realty Inc., which was recently acquired by GE Realty, also in Los Angeles.