City announces additional tenants for Menifee Town Center

Map of the Menifee Town Center property shows planned (and existing) projects, including retail, commercial and housing. Map courtesy of City of Menifee

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Realizing that many residents seem to take development plans for the Menifee Town Center with a grain of salt, the City's economic development director did her best this week to spice up the latest update.

Here are the highlights of the presentation by Gina Gonzalez Thursday during a Town Hall meeting with residents organized by District 1 City Council member Greg August:

-- The ownership of Krikorian Premiere Theaters is "looking to start grading" the Town Center theater site "next week, or if not, the week after."

-- Businesses added to the City's "coming soon" list for the Town Center include Olive Garden, Sprouts Farmers Market and Dickey's Barbecue Pit. A Starbucks and Chronic Tacos Mexican Grill also are now planned for a portion of the property alongside Newport Road.

-- A medical office, to be located across Town Center Drive from the theater, is now leasing space.

-- Construction is underway for the Fairfield Inn & Suites Marriott Hotel just south of the medical office site.

-- Officials are "looking at January" to break ground for a County courthouse.

-- Construction is now underway in all seven housing projects in the center.

The addition of an Olive Garden addresses one of the most often requested amenities by Menifee residents -- more "sit-down restaurants". Dickey's Barbecue Pit also is a popular dining site. And together with previous openings of Aldi and Baron's markets in nearby commercial centers, the addition of a Sprouts is expected to satisfy at least some of those requesting more fresh food market options (Trader Joe's has not expressed interest in coming to Menifee).

Gonzalez said that plans for Olive Garden, Sprouts and Dickey's were "in and out in less than two months." The obvious question, then, was why has it taken the Krikorian Theater more than five years since the initial announcement by the City that it is coming here?

Many of the factors involved have previously been reported. First, Krikorian was said to be waiting for the right time to make the investment. There was the report of a possible $1 million incentive clause, which City Manager Armando Villa later said was off the table.

Another reason for the delay cited by City officials was Krikorian's purchase of additional property for retail space, requiring submission of updated plans. And there was the well-documented delay in requesting a state-mandated study to ensure that a protected species of burrowing owl would not be affected by construction.

Perhaps most noteworthy was the process of securing tenants for Krikorian's adjacent retail/commercial space. According to Gonzalez, banking regulations put in place in recent years require the owner of commercial property to have the development at least 70 percent leased before a bank loan can be secured.

Gonzalez told Menifee 24/7 she empathizes with residents who are frustrated by development delays, year-old "coming soon" signs and the construction of housing before commercial/retail developments in the center. Some of these things cannot be avoided, she said, adding that residents will be pleased with the upcoming developments.

"People get tired of seeing the 'coming soon' signs, but a property owner needs those signs posted to garner the interest of tenants," Gonzalez said. "It's very different with bank loans for developers these days. You have to have properties leased first. And you ask, 'Why housing first?' Well, retail needs housing to support it."

Three single-family housing projects on the west side of Menifee Town Center are being developed by William Lyon Homes. Lennar Homes is building a multi-family housing unit near the center of the property and a single-family housing project in the southeast corner. MBK Homes is building apartments at the south end of the property and near the central area where the courthouse and eventual City Hall will stand.

In addition, a 4.5-acre Central Park is complete, except for improvements including a shade structure over the concrete stage. The City Council is expected to approve next week an agreement with IDS Group, Inc. to design those improvements.

As for the theater?

"They just have to update the owl study and pay some fees," Gonzalez said. "They literally are right there; they are on the 1-yard line."

Using that football analogy, Krikorian is well within the red zone. Residents apparently must wait a couple weeks to see whether that project reaches the end zone -- or remains in the Twilight Zone.