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Grading begins for region's second largest shopping center
By: CHRIS BAGLEY - Staff Writer - The Californian

MENIFEE -- With a legal challenge settled, earthmovers now have the run of 68 acres at Newport Road and Haun Road, where a developer plans to open Southwest County's second-largest shopping center late next year.

With 735,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, Countryside Marketplace would be the Menifee area's largest retail center by far, albeit less than half the size of the giant retail complex that includes The Promenade mall in northern Temecula.

Jeff Chambers, an executive with Costa Mesa developer Donahue Schriber, said he expects a new Kohl's department store and a relocated Target discount store to open in October 2008 in the center.

Other confirmed tenants are Lowe's, Best Buy, Linens & Things, Staples, Petco, Sport Chalet and Old Navy. BJ's Restaurant & Brewery, TGI Friday's, Red Robin, In-N-Out Burger and Chick-fil-A restaurants also are expected.

"We have about 90 percent commitment on 740,000 square feet," Chambers said.

Bulldozers and other machinery have crisscrossed the site in recent weeks to level it. Chambers said construction is expected to begin early next year.

The preparations follow an attorney's agreement to dismiss a lawsuit he had filed. Cory Briggs of Upland sued in late February on behalf of an entity called Menifee Citizens for Smart Growth, contending that Riverside County gave inadequate public notice before various government panels gave their approvals. The group's members and exact form were never publicly known.

Court records show that Briggs requested the dismissal and that he signed it May 2. Chambers said the attorney and the developer settled the case out of court. Chambers declined to discuss the agreement, citing a confidentiality clause.

Supervisor Jeff Stone, whose district includes the area, had criticized the lawsuit, calling it a cynical attempt to make money on the project.

Many residents of Menifee, a formerly rural area that has swelled to some 50,000 people this decade, have said that they have grown tired of trekking into Temecula or Riverside to shop, and said they support the project.

A relatively small but well-organized group of cityhood proponents has also been counting on the project to provide much of the crucial sales tax revenue they say will be needed in the early years of Menifee Valley, a city that would be composed of Menifee, neighboring Sun City and Quail Valley. The Menifee Municipal Advisory Council, whose members Stone appoints, is also heavily composed of cityhood backers.

Chambers, Stone and the advisory council are hosting an informational session on the development today.

-- Contact staff writer Chris Bagley at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2615

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