After serving for decades as a community hub and popular shopping center, the Westminster Mall in Orange County is getting ready to close its doors.
Most of the shops in the mall will shut down on Oct. 29 when leases expire, according to Westminster City Manager Christine Cordon. The City Council approved a redevelopment plan in 2022 to turn the mall into a mixed-use site for housing, leisure and retail.
The 100-acre property, situated on the south side of the 405 Freeway, could soon offer 3,000 housing units and at least 600,000 square feet of upscale retail space.
The city’s Westminster Mall Specific Plan also sets aside more than 9 acres for parks and recreation.
“The community has expressed a strong desire to revitalize this important commercial center,” the redevelopment plan says. “The project site provides a unique opportunity to reposition the mall into the thriving activity center that it once was and to accommodate the future growth of the city.”
Community members gathered last week to say their goodbyes to the mall, which already has shuttered stores and empty parking lots. According to the mall’s online directory, popular shops such as Victoria’s Secret, Vans and Kay Jewelers are still open.
JCPenney, the mall’s oldest anchor store, is slated to close by Nov. 21. Best Buy and Target are expected to remain open for a few more years as the property undergoes redevelopment.
Alexis Malatesta, who frequented the mall as a teenager and now runs a Westminster Mall fan account on Instagram, hosted a farewell karaoke party at the mall on Friday.
She posted videos of the gathering, where several community members came to reminisce and sing songs in the mall’s honor.
Malatesta’s Instagram says it’s “a page dedicated solely to the Westminster Mall’s battle with terminal illness,” referencing the mall’s long, rocky fall from its prime.
In 1986, the mall was Orange County’s second-highest-grossing retail center. The next year, the mall announced a big renovation plan.
In its heyday, the mall was a gathering spot when there were few other places to hang out. It was where kids found the latest fashions and where “mall rats” roamed in packs after school.
Malatesta, who grew up in Huntington Beach, said she spent countless afternoons at the mall in the early 2000s, riding the carousel and snapping digital photos. As the mall fell into disrepair, she posted stunts on social media to try to generate business, including a fake wedding ceremony to declare her marriage to the mall.
“I wanted to get people to go enjoy the space while it was still there,” she said in an interview. “The Westminster Mall was a huge part of my childhood and I’ve met a ton of people through our shared obsession with the mall.”
The Westminster Mall opened in 1974 on the former site of the world’s largest goldfish farm, according to city documents.
It underwent major renovations in the 1980s and in 2008, and is now controlled by four companies that share ownership of the property: Kaiser Permanente, Shopoff Realty, True Life Cos. and Washington Prime Group.
True Life, a Denver-based real estate firm, has received permission from the city to build a five-story, multifamily housing structure on the 3.6 acres that was previously occupied by Babies R Us.
Because of a pending agreement between the four companies, a demolition date for the mall has not been set.
Though the city has ambitious redevelopment plans, the Westminster Mall will lose its nostalgic value for Malatesta, now 33 years old.
“You can go into an indoor mall and you can forget about the outside world,” Malatesta said. “Westminster Mall was my spot.”
Caroline Petrow-Cohen
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