Center gets new owner

Even before Newport Beach-based commercial real estate company Burnham USA Equities Inc. bought South Coast Home Furnishings Centre in Costa Mesa on Friday, they were already paying for advertising to reinvigorate the enormous, failing retail furniture marketplace — a gesture that has some store owners optimistic.

Other owners, however, have started off in a similar fashion and then fallen flat, tenants said. Much more needs to be done if the mall is going to fulfill its original vision as a one-stop furniture outlet well-known throughout Southern California. Many business operators think the new property owner needs to cut rents, improve its marketing efforts and commit to the center in the long term to make real progress.

Burnham bought the 300,000-square-foot plaza for about $35 million a year and a half after the developer, Birtcher Development and Investments, sold it for $100 million. Since its 2007 opening, tenants have fled in droves, leaving it about 60% occupied. Last summer, the property went into receivership when the owners defaulted on their loans.

In order to convince retailers that Burnham was serious about turning the center around, the new owner paid for ads in local newspapers, paid sign twirlers to stand on Harbor Boulevard and put on a promotion Sunday where In-N-Out Burger gave out free hamburgers.

“The biggest problem we have here is that there are a lot of people in Orange County that don’t even know we are here,” said Chris Mulhall, owner of modern home furniture and decor shop Visions in Contemporary Living.

But many retailers think Burnham needs to extend its advertising beyond the local area into neighboring counties like Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego.

“If our job is to just furnish Costa Mesa, then we’re done, and we might as well pack up and go home. I want Long Beach, I want Laguna Beach, I want Palm Springs,” said Raymond Croteau, manager of high-end furniture store White Orchid.

Croteau, like many other business operators, has already asked Burnham for a rent break. If the commercial real estate company got the property for a 65% discount, then it should pass those savings along, tenants have said.

Burnham has committed to filling up the vacant space in short order, which retailers say is a step in the right direction, but after having three owners in a two-year period, some are wary.