RIVERSIDE PLAZA
Central and Riverside Avenues
Riverside. California

Riverside County's first shopping mall was built on a 47-acre tract, located 47 miles southeast of central Los Angeles, in the Magnolia Avenue district of Riverside. The open-air complex was designed by Los Angeles' Victor Gruen and Arthur L. Jacobson, of Riverside. It was developed by Heers Associates, a joint venture of Harold W. Heers, Carol D. Heers, Charles Heers and Walter S. Roeder.

One of the first operational stores at RIVERSIDE PLAZA, a Mayfair Market grocery, opened for business on June 28, 1956. A mall-wide dedication was held on November 15 of the same year, with thirty-eight stores in operation (the mall would eventually contain fifty-three). Charter tenants included W.T. Grant, Lerner Shops, Vincent's Drugs, Mode O'Day Frock Shop, Foreman & Clark, Thom McAn Shoes, Baker's Shoes and an F. W. Woolworth 5 & 10.

Plans had been announced for a 2-level (115,000 square foot), San Bernardino-based Harris Company in early 1956. The "California Contemporary" department store, designed by the firm of Burke, Kober & Nicolais, was officially dedicated on September 30, 1957. A Builder's Emporium, added to the east side of RIVERSIDE PLAZA, welcomed its first customers in October 1957.

Harris', which encompassed a total of 200,000 square feet on 4 levels, had only used 2 when the store opened. In June 1963, it began to utilize the third floor and now encompassed 165,000 square feet of shopping area. The mall was expanded toward the southeast in the mid-1960s. A 1-level (83,200 square foot) W.T. Grant was dedicated on October 5, 1966. A (26,200 square foot) Vons supermarket was also built, which opened for business in June 1967.

RIVERSIDE PLAZA did not have a bona fide retail rival until October 1970, when TYLER MALL {4.7 miles southwest, in Riverside} was completed.

The Grants store was converted to a Grant City discount mart in 1973 and was shuttered in 1975. Montgomery Ward assumed the store space soon after. Work on a 30 million dollar mall renovation commenced in December 1983. Courts and concourses were enclosed. The Wards store was renovated and expanded into adjacent mall space. 40,000 square feet of retail area was added to the mall.

Inline stores, such as Radio Shack, Plaza Hairstyling and The Shirt Shack, were relocated. Sports Country, Limited, The Wherehouse records and Alan Dale's Baby News were enlarged. An International Food Court was also installed. The revitalized RIVERSIDE PLAZA was re-dedicated on November 3, 1984. The shopping facility now encompassed approximately 632,000 leasable square feet.

The enclosed version of RIVERSIDE PLAZA was soon to encounter new retail rivals. MORENO VALLEY MALL{6.6 miles southeast, in Moreno Valley} was dedicated in 1992. ONTARIO MILLS (1996) {11.9 miles northwest, in Ontario} opened in 1996.

By this time, RIVERSIDE PLAZA was in a downward spiral. A demalling-type redevelopment had been announced, but proved difficult to initiate. The renovation was initially held up by the complicated multiple ownership structure of the mall. Several tenants also objected to any modification of the existing building.

The two department stores anchoring RIVERSIDE PLAZA were going through major changes at the turn of the century. The Harris' chain was acquired by Fresno-based Gottschalks in 1998, with stores rebranded as Harris-Gottschalks. Within a few years, the Harris name was dropped from the official moniker of the RIVERSIDE PLAZA store.

After a long period of decline, Montgomery Ward's remaining 254 stores were shuttered in March 2001. Ward's demise was an additional obstacle to the reinvention of RIVERSIDE PLAZA. Its developers, the Newport Beach-based Kinney Company, moved quickly to acquire the now vacant store. Meanwhile, Krikorian Theatres had signed on to build and operate a megaplex cinema at a redeveloped RIVERSIDE PLAZA. This agreement was terminated. Signature Theatres came on board, as a future cinema operator, in July 2003. A lawsuit was filed by Krikorian.

Undaunted, the Kinney Company proceeded with the mall redevelopment. Demolition got underway in June 2003. The demalling was done in segments, with stores remaining open for business during the reconstruction.

The first new RIVERSIDE PLAZA tenants, a (16,700 square foot) Sav-On Drug and (10,000 square foot) Trader Joe's, were completed in late 2003. The eastern section of the new RIVERSIDE PLAZA lifestyle center debuted in late 2004. It was composed of an Entertainment District, Fashion District, Neighborhood District and Food Court; all traversed by a Main Street thoroughfare.

In addition to Gottschalks, the new shopping hub featured Islands Restaurant, Ooka Japanese Restaurant, California Pizza Kitchen, Citrus City Grill, Party America, a (20,000 square foot) Borders Books and (55,000 square foot) Vons supermarket. This store welcomed its first shoppers on November 3, 2004. The Signature Theatres chain was acquired by the Regal Entertainment Group in April 2004. The megaplex cinema started by Signature opened, as the Regal Riverside Plaza Stadium 16, on December 10, 2004.

The final section of RIVERSIDE PLAZA, a western store block or Orchard Shops, was completed 2 years later. El Torito Mexican Grill welcomed its first diners on August 14, 2006. When all construction dust settled, the redevelopment had cost over 80 million dollars (not including legal fees pertaining to the Krikorian litigation).

The 2009 bankruptcy of Gottschalks resulted in the RIVERSIDE PLAZA store closing in July. A 2-level (90,000 square foot), Los Angeles-based Forever 21 opened in a portion of the store space on August 15, 2009. This store was shuttered January 27, 2013. Another vacancy was created with the September 2011 shuttering of Borders Books. Its space was renovated into the shopping center's second Forever 21 location. This 1-level (20,000 square foot) store welcomed its first shoppers on August 3, 2013.

Now entirely vacant, the Harris' building was divided into five tenant spaces; including a (41,000 square foot) Nordstrom Rack, (20,000 square foot) Marshalls and (20,000 square foot) Jo-Ann Fabrics. Nordstrom Rack opened for business April 3, 2014, with Marshalls and Jo-Ann operations debuting on May 15 and 20, respectively.

A joint venture of the Phoenix-based Vestar Development Company and Swiss-based UBS Global Asset Management acquired RIVERSIDE PLAZA in September 2012. Vestar, who manages the complex, performed a 12 million dollar face lift of the property in the following year.

Sources:

The San Bernardino Sun

The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, California)
www.shopriversideplaza.com
www.raincrosssquare.com
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.calcontractor.com
www.caconstruction.com
http://shopriversideplaza.com