REAL ESTATE : Developers See Potential Profits in Costa Mesa’s Downtown Business Area

Costa Mesa’s old downtown was once called “Goat Hill” and is commemorated by a tavern of the same name near the intersection of Harbor and Newport boulevards. But the city’s downtown has shifted in the last 20 years from south to northwest. It is now centered on the huge South Coast Plaza shopping mall and the big office buildings across Bristol Street from the mall.

The old downtown--once slightly shabby as attention shifted to the mall--has been getting a face lift recently from developers who see it as a good location with access to a sizable market. The latest developers to try their luck include a group of Southern Californians backed by British money who will build 185,000 square feet of shops and boutiques, eight movie theaters, restaurants and a supermarket in the triangle formed by Harbor and Newport boulevards and 19th Street.

The new Triangle Square will feature arches, domes, towers and columns in a Mediterranean motif that will loom large over the intersection, compared to the low row of one-story shops that were torn down to make way for the new construction.

The three sides of the new building will surround an open courtyard designed for foot traffic.

Developers are Klein Enterprises, developer of One Pacific Plaza in Huntington Beach; Pacific Development Partners, with major redevelopment projects in Inglewood and Compton; and developer Richard J. Shapiro. The developers are joint venturing with Capital & Counties USA Inc., the U.S. arm of a British developer.

The building is scheduled to open in the spring of 1992.