Office and Retail Project Planned Adjacent to Pond

ANAHEIM —  A Tustin developer is planning to build a $200-million office and retail complex near the Pond, the company said Tuesday.

Burnett Development has purchased a vacant 23-acre parcel for the project, which will include three low-rise office buildings, a 175-room hotel, food court, retail shops, a sports club and a parking structure to accommodate up to 3,000 vehicles.

Lynn Burnett, a partner in the firm, said the company is hoping to capitalize on the recovering Anaheim office market and the public and private improvements planned around Anaheim Stadium.

A Cleveland developer is drawing up plans for a 40-acre shopping and entertainment complex, Sportstown, next to the stadium. Numerous street improvements also are being planned.

Burnett officials say they hope to begin construction in mid-1998 if they can line up a long-term financial partner and if the city approves a development plan.

City Manager James D. Ruth said officials have discussed the project with the developer, as well as the possibility of sharing the proposed parking structure for events at the Pond. So far, however, no formal plans have been submitted, he added.

“We are impressed,” Ruth said. “It looks like a good project and one compatible with the area,” he said.

The vacant site, which once housed a mobile home park, had been earmarked by another developer for a New Orleans-style entertainment development with restaurants and nightclubs. However, the developer scrapped the project before submitting formal plans to the city, Ruth said.

Burnett purchased the land near Douglass Road from owner Clayton Scarborough Trust. It also swapped a shopping center in Tustin for developer Jack Stanaland’s 30-year lease on the property. The total value of the deal, including the property swap, was $27 million, according to brokerage sources.

Stanaland had proposed the retail development with a French Quarter theme in 1995 but met with some resistance. Some city officials thought the project “wasn’t a good match” for the area, Ruth said.

Burnett said the first phase of the development will consist of a 120,000-square-foot office building, sports club and the hotel, which will cater to business travelers. No leases have been signed, but Burnett said his company is negotiating with a number of potential tenants.

Quality office space “is in fairly short supply right now,” Burnett said. “The market is getting stronger. By the time we are ready to begin construction, we should have a significant level of pre-leasing accomplished.”

The office vacancy rate in the Anaheim Stadium area dwindled to 11.6% in the second quarter from 14.3% at the end of last year, according to CB Commercial Real Estate Group.

Burnett Development, which was founded in 1974, has developed 4 million square feet of shopping centers and business parks throughout Southern California, but company officials acknowledge that this is one of their most ambitious projects.

Burnett also is negotiating with two hotels for a development on a 5.5-acre site it owns on Main Street and MacArthur Road in Irvine.