Robert M. Campbell, president of Newport Beach, Calif.-based CT, says the company will redevelop the site into a "town center" that will include entertainment, restaurants, a health club and smaller retail shops combined with an office campus.
Valley Plaza currently comprises 315,034 square feet of office and retail space. Major retail tenants include JCPenney, Rite Aid and Burger King, with much of the office space occupied by county, state and federal government agencies.
CT says the center is at the busiest intersection in El Centro and is within blocks of the El Centro City Hall, the Imperial County Administrative Center, the El Centro Post Office and a State of California office building.
Campbell says the company sees potential to add value to the project because of El Centro's rapid growth rate and the region's need for new office and retail space. He cites statistics showing that the population of Imperial County is growing much faster than that of California, increasing by 36% between 1990 and 2000 while California's population grew by 13.6 percent during the same time.
Housing growth, he adds, has attracted national retailers including Wal Mart, Costco, Albertsons, Staples, Sears and Home Depot, all of which have opened new facilities near Valley Plaza.
Renovation of the center is scheduled to be completed within one year. Specific plans include completely replacing the parking lot and adding all new landscaping, developing street-front sites for retail, dining and entertainment tenants, upgrading the building facades, replacing the roofs and HVAC systems, and transforming the office buildings into a campus environment.
According to Campbell, no brokers were involved in CT's acquisition of the property.
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