With Sears out, Laguna Hills Mall renovation takes a new turn

May 07--Plans to redevelop a portion of Laguna Hills Mall have been scrapped by property owner Merlone Geier Partners in favor of a more comprehensive concept following the firm's acquisition of the lease held by Sears.

Merlone Geier, which bought the mall last year from longtime owner Simon Property Group, has taken over the lease held by the department store, which encompasses 15 acres of the 68-acre property.

The mall, built in 1973, now is slated to become a "promenade-style urban village," said Jeremy Meredith, the firm's manager for the Laguna Hills Mall project.

Buying out Sears' lease allows Merlone Geier to "reevaluate the scope of redevelopment" for the property, Meredith said.

Liquidation sales began Friday at the Sears store, which opened in April 1973, company spokesman Howard Riefs said. Sears will close in mid-July.

Merlone Geier also announced that the mall will be rebranded as Five Lagunas, in a nod to Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Beach and Laguna Canyon.

Meredith said the name is meant to reflect the regional reach the firm expects from the redeveloped property.

Merlone Geier will take a new master plan for the redevelopment to the city for approval, Meredith said.

The planned revamp is designed to boost foot traffic at the struggling mall. Sales tax revenue for the center dropped to a seven-year low of $1.4 million last year from $1.8 million in 2005, according to city records.

Laguna Hills Assistant City Manager Don White called the decision to acquire the Sears lease a significant one in the context of the planned remodel.

"The land lease was always an obstacle to any redevelopment plans," White said. -- Sarah de Crescenzo

On the move

Tim Morse has joined Auction.com, an online real estate marketplace based in Irvine, as chief financial officer and executive vice president. He previously served as CFO at Adap.tv and Yahoo Inc., where he also served as interim chief executive. Outgoing CFO Bruce Felt will depart in June. Morse works out of the company's Silicon Valley office in Belmont.

Alliant Insurance Services, a Newport Beach insurance brokerage firm, hired Henry Beceiro as vice president of the company's employee benefits group. He previously worked as a client executive at Barney & Barney, a Marsh & McLennan LLC company. Beceiro will work to grow Alliant's San Diego business.

Experian, an information services company with its North American headquarters in Costa Mesa, has named Eric Haller executive vice president of Experian DataLabs. He previously was senior vice president of strategic development and applied research at Experian. Scientists and research practitioners in the DataLabs combine data from Experian and its clients to solve problems. Two more labs are being built in London and Sao Paulo.

New ventures

Pear Sports, an Irvine company that makes workout technology that uses a mobile app and heart monitor to provide audio coaching, closed its second round of funding for $5 million, led by existing investors Innovate Partners and Nordic Ventures. Irvine TV-maker Vizio Inc. joined the round as a strategic investor. The funds will be used to expand sales and marketing efforts for Pear Sports' mobile app and related hardware and its platform services business.

The law firm of Wilson Harvey Browndorf LLP has opened its new flagship location in Irvine. The move was made to house the firm's growing staff and improve accessibility for Orange County clients. The 22,000-square-foot space, at 1900 Main St., Suite 600, will accommodate 85 workers.

Leadership

Brian Fargo has joined the board of advisers for Hang w/, a video-based social networking platform built by Medl Mobile Inc., a Fountain Valley mobile application developer and majority shareholder of Hang With Inc. Video game designer Fargo founded Interplay Entertainment and InXile Entertainment, and created games like "Bard's Tale" and "Wasteland."

The Orange Catholic Foundation, an independent Catholic philanthropic organization, has elected three new board members. Alan R. Arnold is executive vice president and chief technology officer at Vision Solutions in Irvine; the Rev. Jim Ries is pastor at St. Mary Church in Fullerton; and Stephen Muzzy is partner at MF Partners in Newport Beach.

Overheard

"The jury did a hell of a job." -- Joseph Re of Knobbe Martens in Irvine, talking to Judge Raymond Chen at a U.S. appeals court hearing in which Google Inc. asked Chen to throw out a $30.5 million patent-infringement verdict won by licensing company Vringo Inc., Re's client

Contact the writer: 714-796-3589 or [email protected]

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