Seventeen years after it opened, the GardenWalk mall in Anaheim continues struggling to finish its buildout.
So the Anaheim City Council has declared the GardenWalk project out of compliance for failing to meet development deadlines for two hotels that have long been planned for the outdoor shopping and entertainment venue. It is a regular review process the city goes through when there are development agreements for a project.
This is not the first time deadlines have been missed in the agreement for GardenWalk. It’s an issue the city has contended with “every three to four years” since the mall’s inception in 2008, city spokesperson Mike Lyster said.
In 1999, the city of Anaheim and the Garden Walk’s original developer, Pointe Anaheim, entered into a development agreement that promised to bring to the city a mix of hotels, entertainment, dining and retail within walking distance of Disneyland. Shortly after, Pointe Anaheim assigned the agreement to three other developers to govern the 455,343-square-foot mall on West Katella Avenue.
STC GardenWalk LLC oversees the center’s retail, dining, entertainment and parking structure. It purchased the center in 2018 for $80 million (the center had sold once before in 2012, out of bankruptcy) and has brought in new eateries and entertainment. Though there are some vacancies, STC is considered in compliance by the city, per the agreement.
Westgate Resorts Anaheim, LLC previously signed on to construct a 399-unit timeshare resort atop the mall’s existing parking garage — but failed to obtain a building permit in April, telling the city it was struggling to attract a “national hotel flag” and there were design problems.
And GardenWalk Hotel I, LLC is responsible for building two luxury hotels on the property; the J.W. Marriott, which opened in Aug. 2020, fulfills the first half of that promise. But the developer failed to break ground on a second hotel at the corner of Disney Way and Clementine Street by last month, which it promised to do. The city had extended the timeframe in 2023.
In a letter to the city, the developer said the delays were from “unforeseen challenges” related to financial constraints, updates to statewide building codes and the unexpected passing of a business partner.
These economic roadblocks aren’t unique to the GardenWalk and its developers, Lyster said. The city has seen “all types of construction slow over the past year or so for these same reasons.”
The developers, in their individual letters to the city, have asked for extended deadlines: GardenWalk Hotel I, to complete the construction by May 12, 2033; Westgate Resorts, to submit a final site plan by March 31, and complete construction by June 30, 2029.
At full buildout, the GardenWalk will have three hotels with up to 1,266 hotel rooms. The J.W. Marriott opened with 466 rooms during the pandemic.
The GardenWalk, for years, has struggled to lure visitors, despite early aspirations that the center would benefit from the Disneyland resort’s millions of visitors each year.
The restaurants along Katella, including Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and The Cheesecake Factory, have done “very, very well,” Lyster said. But “the interior has always struggled.”
The council will hold a public hearing within 45 days of its Dec. 16 meeting to weigh its responses to the developers.
“The city’s options are we could extend. We could try to work with them short of extension to see what may be done,” Lyster said. “Or ultimately, the council, they could also dissolve the development agreement.”