Shining Complex Fades

SANTA ANA — The Japanese developer’s $500-million vision has vanished. Gone are plans for a complex of first-class homes, tony shops and Orange County’s tallest office tower.

Instead, the city may have to settle for a more ordinary shopping center anchored by a store like Circuit City.

The story of the development that was to be the Main Street Concourse, built by the Shimizu Corp. of Japan, shows how ambitious plans can disappear when real estate and financial markets turn sour.

Optimism abounded when Santa Ana approved the Shimizu plan in 1993. It was supposed to help make central Santa Ana a regional destination for shoppers and employers--an “Urban Hub,” as a Times headline said.

“I thought that project would have been the best thing that ever happened to central Orange County,” said Jerry King, a consultant for Shimizu at the time.

Now the developer is out of the picture. On the 17-acre lot on North Main Street near East Memory Lane, where a glittering complex had been planned across from the MainPlace/Santa Ana mall, the only building is occupied by a longtime tenant, the popular coffee shop Polly’s Pies.

The property owner, another Japanese company, is said to be close to a deal to sell to a Newport Beach developer, Hopkins Real Estate Group. Steve Hopkins, the company president, said he envisions new buildings with stores such as a Circuit City or Staples office supply.

A sign has been placed on the property advertising a future development as “Main Street Crossing.” But Hopkins said he has no tenants yet.

City officials and real estate brokers blame the Shimizu project’s demise on Orange County’s troubled real estate market of the mid-1990s.

“The tide went out and they were stranded,” said Bob Hoffman, real estate services manager for the city of Santa Ana.

Jerry Giglio, a real estate broker for CB Commercial who represents the property owner, said the 1994 Orange County bankruptcy also undercut the project.

“All of a sudden, our market was gone,” Giglio said. “No one predicted the early ‘90s would happen.”

How bad was the bust?

In 1988, a boom time, Orient Corp. of Tokyo bought the site for $23.5 million. Now, according to CB Commercial, the asking price for the parcel is $15 million.

What’s more, the market apparently has narrowed. Hopkins said he will focus mainly on retail tenants if the sale goes through.

City officials say any new development probably would need new approvals. They aim for a project that would fit in with MainPlace mall and Santa Ana’s nearby Bowers Museum of Cultural Art and the planned complex known as the Discovery Science Center.

Santa Ana City Councilman Brett Franklin, who represents the area, said he is skeptical of the Hopkins plan.

“If it’s just a retail center, that’s not going to do it,” Franklin said. He said he wants housing, a movie theater or some other use to be part of a project.

Originally, Shimizu proposed building a 32-story office tower, a health club, a live theater, a movie complex and 216 condominiums in a high-rise.

An Orient Corp. representative confirmed that Orient no longer has a contract with Shimizu to develop the site.

The representative added that a downturn in the Japanese economy also played a role in the company’s decision to cancel plans.

“The Japanese economy was very bad, and still it’s in a bad condition,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Some Japanese companies, such as the Orient Corp., lost the eagerness to invest in foreign countries.”

Some Santa Ana residents are vowing to fight to save the Shimizu vision. The residents had participated in a lengthy effort to develop a “mini-city” that would boost Santa Ana’s image.

Don Cribb said the northern part of the city would fight Hopkins’ plan.

Cribb contends that the city should be able to attract a developer with plans similar to Shimizu’s.

The situation could have some urgency for Santa Ana. The area around the intersection of the Santa Ana, Orange and Garden Grove freeways is thick with shopping centers and development opportunities for four cities.

But Franklin said: “I’m in no hurry on that project. It’s a choice piece of land.”