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The regional mall, which turns 50 next year, will be getting two sit-down restaurants, a relocated food court and some extra space to work with after it demolishes a former anchor-tenant building. It will also rearrange its tenant mix and makes some other changes. The question is, will those moves restore some of the beleaguered property’s former glory?
After several years of delays and false starts, a major overhaul of Montclair Place is underway.
The regional shopping mall’s food court is being moved from the west end to the center, and the facility’s main entrance facing Moreno Street on the north side of the property is being rebuilt to accommodate two sit-down restaurants, both of which will be on the mall’s upper level.
That food court move is expected to be finished in March or April, said Mike Diaz, Montclair’s city planner.
The former Broadway building on the mall’s east side, vacant for more than 10 years, is fenced off and ready for demolition. It’s not clear when that will happen or what will replace that structure, Diaz said.
Plans also call for some store reshuffling, and a 16 to 18-screen multiplex will be developed on the mall property, which sits between Central and Monte Vista avenues and faces Interstate 10 to the south. Ultimately, mall officials want to make Montclair Place – formerly known as Montclair Plaza – an outdoor lifestyle-entertainment center and community gathering place.
“We absolutely have to improve it because it’s one of the city’s major sources of sales tax revenue,” Diaz said of the regional shopping mall, which opened in 1968 and added a second level in 1985. “It’s been here a long time and it’s a major part of the community.”
Montclair Place, which peaked during the 1970s and 1980s, has lately fallen on lean times.
Newer, splashier retail destinations – Ontario Mills, the Shoppes at Chino Hills, Chino Spectrum Marketplace & Towne Center and Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga – have all put a dent into Montclair Place’s traffic count during the past 10 to 15 years.
Diaz declined to discuss revenue figures or the mall’s vacancy rate, but sales at Montclair Plaza reportedly were down nearly 40 percent at the height of the recession.
When it opened, Montclair Place’s main competition was the Pomona Mall, an outdoor destination downtown that was about to go into a long decline, and Eastland Shopping Center in West Covina, also an outdoor venue.
In 2014, CIM Group in Los Angeles – a full-service real estate firm that manages more than $19 billion in assets – bought the mall from CWCapital Asset Management in Maryland, reportedly for $170 million.
CIM Group, which has a reputation for reviving struggling retail properties, has been tight-lipped regarding its plans for Montclair Place, saying only that it’s working on a “multi-phased” renovation of the property, starting with the relocation of the food court.
Montclair Place still has four anchor tenants – Nordstrom, Macy’s, Sears and JCPenney – and a Barnes & Noble bookstore. It also has excellent freeway visibility, being located next to Interstate 10.
But converting the 49-year-old mall into an entertainment-oriented facility with outdoor shopping along the lines of Victoria Gardens could be an uphill battle, according to a local economist.
“Basically they’re going to be [trying to draw] the crowd whose entertainment is to stay at home and watch Netflix on their 70-inch television,” said Jay Prag, professor of economics and finance at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. “They’re also up against a lot of competition, and they’re not in a high-end residential area, so what they’re trying to do won’t be easy.”
Ontario Mills, which opened in 1996, underwent a renovation about five years ago and is now thriving, Prag said.
“Fix or close is the name of the game in retail, and I think Montclair [Place] is behind the curve on renovation compared with some of its competition,’ Prag said. “They’re trying to become a destination location again, but it’s hard do that after people have found other destinations.”
The restaurants, once they’re in place, and relocated food court will probably liven up the mall over time, said Larry Sonner, an Upland resident and occasional shopper at Montclair Place.
“In the mornings they have quite a few walkers, mostly upstairs,” Sonner said in reference to a group of senior citizens who use the mall as a place to exercise. “I think people might stay away during the renovation, because of the inconvenience, but after that I think they’ll be OK.”
