By Brian Hews
The Best Plaza Shopping Center, located on 183rd and the 605 freeway and built in 1978 and 1979, will undergo significant remodeling in the coming months, as approved by the Cerritos City Council at its Jan. 26 meeting.
The remodel will include the demolition and reconstruction of a portion of the commercial retail buildings, remodel of the exterior facades, and landscaping upgrades throughout the center.
Centercal Properties LLC, located in El Segundo, has proposed a comprehensive remodel of the shopping center.
At the beginning of the presentation, City Manager Art Gallucci noted that the plaza, “was quite old and in need of extensive repair.”
Centercal will be bringing a new tenant mix and the project architect has proposed a Santa Barbara-inspired architectural style, not currently found in the City, which together with new landscape upgrades, will add to the continuing improvements that are now underway.
The site contains several existing tenants including Burlington Coat Factory, La-Z-Boy Furniture, Chuck E. Cheese’s, Guitar Center, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Buffalo Wild Wings, EI Torito, Olive Garden, Peking Wok and many others.
The site currently has several vacancies including the former Levitz building, the former Easy Life Furniture and the former Tokyo Buffet Restaurant.
In addition, several large tenant vacancies include suites formally occupied by Big Lots and Skate Depot.
Centercal will demolish the existing former Tokyo Buffet Restaurant reconstruct a new 10,000-square-foot retail building to accommodate approximately four to five small restaurant tenants with outdoor seating areas planned at the north, west and south sides of the building.
The proposed outdoor seating areas will be constructed with decorative hardscape and will have outdoor furniture, planter pots and other furniture amenities.
Demolish the former Skate Depot building, and reconstruct a new 43,692-square-foot, one-story replacement addition that will be reconfigured for two tenant spaces.
Centercal will remodel some exterior facades with a Santa Barbara-inspired architecture style. The lighting in the shopping center will also be upgraded.
The proposed Santa Barbara-inspired design will feature a color palette of bright whites and beiges for the exterior smooth plaster walls and incorporate the use of white and light beige stone and brick veneers.
Each storefront will be provided with a raised entry tower, each with a design frontage including metal canopies, canvas awnings, fiber cement boards, horizontal simulated wood veneers, and stone veneers, designed to create a village look
Centercal intends to place art on site to fulfill the Cerritos Art in Public Places requirement, and said proposal will be presented to the Fine Arts and Historical Commission and City Council at a later date.
Mayor Mark Pulido commended staff for the work on the project, and noted that “the architecture is quite new and clean and will be a nice addition to Cerritos.”
“Ray commented that this is a very exciting project, it will increase our sales tax, property values and jobs”
No other comments were made by any city councilperson, Councilman Barrows moved to approve with Councilman Ray seconding. Mayor pro-tem Carol Chen had to recuse herself from the vote because she owns property within 500 feet of Best Plaza.
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Don’t get the logic, 2 Nordies in same city and now Lakewood and Cerritos, both have Nordstroms Rack!!. No mention, if the mall will be home to Learning Center too.
Hope we get some diversified eateries, we’re hungry:
1. Soup Plantation Restaurant.
2. Sizzler Restaurant.
3. Beni Hannas Restaurant.
4. Lawry’s Restaurant.
Thumb down on CCC, not promoting Formalized Bus Stop, as for past 20 yrs, we have been promised Bus depot. Why isn’t the Los Cerritos Mall, bridged with overhead crossing to the Best Mall Plaza. Still pedestrian maze, trying to pole volt between restaurant pads.
Better stores to serve the Regional Shoppers would of been:
• Fry Electronics.
• Ikea.
• Jeromes Furniture.
• Homegoods.
• Bloomingdales.
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