09.27.07
Mall could revitalize downtown
Mall could revitalize downtown
L.A. man spending millions on former Ward structure
BY JOHN COX, Californian staff writer
e-mail: jcox@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Sep 26 2007 10:15 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Sep 26 2007 10:21 PM
For all the recent renovations to the former Montgomery Ward building on F Street, the biggest signs of change there are the little ones posted in front of the mall’s vacant storefronts.
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Plans are under way to create a public marketplace in Westchester. Jenni Martz owns a custom skate shop inside the Golden State Mall.
“Future home of Home Made Pies” reads one; another: “Future home of Local Butcher.”
The signs are part of a Los Angeles real estate investor’s ambitious plans to reinvent the Golden State Mall — long a sore spot for the surrounding Westchester neighborhood — in a way that some say could help revitalize the greater downtown area.
Hoping to build on the success of the farmers market that draws crowds to the property every Saturday, owner George Molayem wants to turn the place into an indoor-outdoor public market where families from across the region can buy farm-fresh foods and shop for locally made arts and crafts amid live entertainment.
The concept has done well in Hollywood, Seattle and some other big cities, creating jobs and attracting shoppers to nearby businesses. Some say it could do the same, on a smaller scale, for downtown Bakersfield.
But if it does succeed in bringing a diverse crowd of shoppers to a mall many still perceive as rundown or catering only to Hispanics, it will do so against the conventional retail wisdom that every shopping center must be anchored by at least one large chain store — an idea Molayem opposes.
For this and other reasons, his plan seems to have as many skeptics as supporters.
“I still think that there’s some potential here,” said Phillip Walker, who has owned and run a sandwich and snack shop in a back corner of the mall since 2002. “However, there has to be a way to get an anchor — a major store to … get people in here.”
Armando Elizalde is not so sure. The owner of a jewelry store and high-end tequila shop at the mall’s main entrance, Elizalde strongly supports the idea of a locals-only public market, and he applauds Molayem’s efforts to make the mall more presentable. But the key to future success, he said, will be finding professional-quality tenants.
“If you get the right merchandise and you know what you’re doing, you’re going to (do good) business,” he said.
Recent renovations weigh in Molayem’s favor. He and the previous owner have invested tens of thousands of dollars improving the mall’s interior, putting in airy new walkways, erecting a large sign along F Street and fixing up the restrooms, among other improvements.
But there remains a stigma left over from previous owners’ attempts to find an appropriate use for the boxy structure.
After Montgomery Ward went out of business in late 2000, an investor bought the property and turned it into an indoor swap meet that thrived initially, but eventually deteriorated under tenant neglect. A later owner came in, hoping to turn the place around, but ended up selling it without making significant changes. More recently, the property was bought and sold for the stated purpose of “flipping” it for a quick profit.
The reaction from surrounding residents has been not only to avoid the mall, but also to lodge complaints against loud concerts on the property and a nightclub that was going to open in the building’s upper floor but which never got the chance because of community opposition.
Even now, City Councilwoman Sue Benham, whose ward encompasses the mall, hesitates to endorse Molayem’s plans.
“I would certainly be happy to see something that made better use of the property,” she said. “I would just hope that the owners keep in mind that they do border a long-established residential area.”
Neighboring businesses agree that it’s time for a change.
“If it’s new change, for new marketing, I think it would be a good change,” said Josephine Hurd, manager of the nearby Dollar Tree. “It’d bring more business to everyone around here.”
More than that, a public market at the mall could become “sort of the gem of the area” if done right, said Richard Chapman, president and CEO of the Kern Economic Development Corp.
Chapman, who has visited Seattle’s thriving public market and reviewed studies on the many jobs and hefty tax revenues it generates, suggested that Molayem hold out for as diverse and local a mix of tenants as possible.
“I think the more they stamp ‘made locally,’ the more successful” it would be,” he said.
Molayem, a real estate investor who said he also manufactures and sells jewelry wholesale in Los Angeles, bought the property earlier this year for $8 million. He said he has already invested close to $1 million in physical improvements to the mall, and plans to invest as much as $4 million more on things like fixing up an upper-level banquet room and launching print, radio and television advertising campaigns.
But before investing in marketing, Molayem said he wants to fill up the mall’s 84,000-square-foot lower floor, now about 70 percent occupied. To do that, he is working with local commercial leasing agents to reach out to small, independent retailers who may sell wholesale but are also open to selling directly to the public.
That’s the easy part, he said.
“Getting tenants is not going to be our biggest challenge,” Molayem said. Rather, it will be “attracting (the) public and making them understand what a public market is.”
Next door, at the CLS pet supplies store, manager Breean Simpson has noticed that the mall has “gotten better” in recent months. She shops and eats at the mall, and although she was unaware of plans for the public market, she had noticed the homemade pies sign.
“Grandpa loves pie,” she said. “I’d love to buy him a pie.”
