South Coast Construction to Begin

Construction gets underway this month at the South Coast Metro Center in Costa Mesa, where developers will build stores, restaurants, office buildings and a fitness center during the next four years.

The first phase of the $140-million project will include a sprawling 24-Hour Fitness health club, Romano’s Macaroni Grill restaurant and 5,000 square feet of retail space. The retailers’ names have not been announced, but they are expected to include a coffeehouse, copy store and fast-food restaurant, all of which would be open by March.

“A tremendous amount of things are happening here,” said Edward W. Cook III, a partner in the McCarthy, Cook & Co., which, with Blackstone Real Estate Advisors in New York, owns the 50-acre parcel near the San Diego and Costa Mesa freeways interchange. “This is one of the largest developments in the past decade to hit Costa Mesa, certainly the largest recently entitled.”

The Costa Mesa City Council approved the project April 19.

The second phase will include another restaurant and four four-story office buildings. The first office building is expected to open in the second half of next year. A hotel with more than 200 rooms is expected to be completed within four years.

The goal is to develop an environment that will encourage office workers to stay put once they arrive in the morning, said Mary Urashima, a spokeswoman for the developer.