Originally Posted By crapshoot <<Disney hasn't shown much interest in the property, which is interesting.>> I think that they have their hands full of what they are trying to fix now. I've been through GW about 3 times now. Is it ever underwhelming. As a mall, it offers nothing. As an entertainment center, it fails on all aspects. As a restaurant draw, eh. But just like DCA, it's area development is broken. It is neither charming or engaging and its flow is completely fractured. In other words, it's another "New Millenium Flop".
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I wouldn't compare DCA to GardenWalk. As a shopping mall the place is about as uninspired and run-of-the-mill as could be.
Originally Posted By LOVE-DCA I just don’t understand why they don’t sell off the property to someone who can manage the loan. As I see it no other investor wants to invest in it now that is defaulted. but maybe sell it to someone who can bring that place up out of the debt. DCA is a theme park not another run of the mill shopping area. Garden walk is a glorified out door market/shopping place. DCA is not a flop, not in my eyes. I think that the research should have been done to see how many other outdoor shopping areas are near or sorta of near Anaheim before they built the GW!! There is at least 3 others. Irvine spectrum, Irvine district, Tustin marketplace and the block at orange. All are thriving and doing well. Those places are major for tourists..
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt One HUGE mistake I think they made with GardenWalk was not building at least one hotel first. Doing that would have at least generated some foot traffic around the place.
Originally Posted By LOVE-DCA I think they should rename Anaheim to “hotel city”, because that is all you really see on every corner.
Originally Posted By Terminus I think they should sell the land to Disney so they can tear it down and build a new Pixar park.
Originally Posted By LOVE-DCA It would be soo far away from the main park. I think they (Disney) buy it and tear down cemet walk and build a water park!! It’s not like we have enough of those in Cali….and it’s not like it has to be on the property.
Originally Posted By Terminus Then they could build a whole park based on the Pixar movie "Cars"!! That would be fun. Connect them by Monorail and underground bullet train. Bingo! Not so far!
Originally Posted By Terminus Actually, they could expand that idea and build a whole park where all the rides and attractions are based on animated features!
Originally Posted By LOVE-DCA but isn't that what disneyland did??? ins't that why there is disneyland??
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Seriously? You think so?" Well yeah, I mean the area is supposed to be a destination for vacationers. Building a mall in that particular part of Anaheim away from DLR foot traffic was kind of pointless without the foot traffic that a large hotel with a strong brand name would create. In a way the project was developed kind of backwards.
Originally Posted By LOVE-DCA mm ok i see what your saying.... i still think that the researched wasn't done right either..
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy There was nothing wrong with the research. A decade ago, the research said that Gardenwalk wouldn't work. That's why the propery sat vacant without any sign of construction for years on end. It wasn't until the absolute height of the real estate bubble -- when money was pouring into projects of even dubious prospects -- that Gardnewalk finally got financing to get built. The research was right all along, but greedy developers and real estate investment schemers never really cared whether this project was successful or not. They made all of their money just by getting the place built and are likely sheltered from any substantial losses in the operational side of the business.
Originally Posted By jmuboy Maybe portions of GW closer to Katella could be kept and other portions closer to Disney Way could be removed and turned in to a Hotel. Just some randowm thoughts. There has to be some way to smartly slavage this place. It's a mess, but not a complete disaster.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 "Well yeah, I mean the area is supposed to be a destination for vacationers. Building a mall in that particular part of Anaheim away from DLR foot traffic was kind of pointless without the foot traffic that a large hotel with a strong brand name would create. In a way the project was developed kind of backwards." Exactly. It was doomed to fail. It was not designed with Disneyland tourists in mind. Or at least ease of access and visibility to the DLR tourists. Without that, it was then a generic mall competing with the other, much better malls in the area. So, it was neither a draw to tourists or locals. Not having any kind of presence on Harbor was the worst thing for it. I agree with Sport Goofy, that the greedy developers really didn't care if it was successful, they just wanted to make money.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "There was nothing wrong with the research. A decade ago, the research said that Gardenwalk wouldn't work." I don't know what research you are referring to, but I find it hard to believe that a commercial enterprise like GardenWalk shouldn't work in that location if planned properly. The biggest problem with place from my standpoint (a tourist) is that there is nothing there worth doing or seeing. The shops and restaurants aren't compelling enough for me to leave DLR and investigate.
