A furniture-centric retail center that abuts the 405 North in Costa Mesa has landed in foreclosure.

According to papers filed in Orange County Superior Court last month, South Coast Home Furnishing Center LLC, the owner of the Hyland Avenue property that spans 300,000 square feet, has defaulted on an $84 million mortgage loan from LaSalle Bank.

South Coast Home Furnishing Center has said it doesn’t intend to resume payments on the loan and has agreed to allow a court-appointed receiver to oversee the property while LaSalle’s foreclosure action is pending, court papers show.

Phone calls to the receiver, Douglas Wilson Companies of San Diego, weren’t immediately returned. PacificWest Asset Management Corp., which had been managing the shopping center, couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.

Andy Kim, majority owner of Emmo Home, which plans to open a 1,450-square-foot home furnishings store at the center, said PacificWest sent him an e-mail that the center will be managed under a receiver. Kim said PacificWest did not say how his 3-year lease may be affected.

He still plans to open Emmo Home’s first store at the Costa Mesa center in late August. Emmo Home began selling its products online in October 2007.

Readers have complained that while the center is plainly visible from the freeway, it is difficult for drivers to find once they exit the 405. Kim said he’s aware of this and the slow foot traffic at the center and is concerned about that. However, he said he got a “favorable lease rate” and will spend money to market the store.

As reported here earlier, at least three stores — House of Windsor, Salmo’s Custom Sofa Factory and Wickes Furniture (which filed for bankruptcy protection) — have closed in recent months at the center, which opened in late 2006.

The Costa Mesa home furnishings center is also home to La-Z-Boy and Easy Life Furniture.

(Hang Nguyen contributed to this report. Photo of rocking chair from Emmo Web site.)

More from OC Retail:

• Worst mall parking in Orange County?
• Circuit City to sell all items tax free
• Chinese maker recalls grills sold at Lowe’s
• Maker of items sold at Target files for bankruptcy
• Nude Eva Mendes in Calvin Klein ad hits Web
• Steve Madden wants to close stores
• Free concert by “Hey there Delilah” band at The Block
• First outlet mall in O.C. hoping to get stores like Carlsbad
• Opening dates for 15 stores, eateries coming to new O.C. mall
• Target to relocate two O.C. stores to bigger buildings
• New mall near O.C. getting Trader Joe’s, Pinkberry, H&M & more
• Clothing chain to close 100 stores

For more from OC Retail, see list of links on right-hand side of this blog.

Posted in: Home Retailers • Mall News • South Coast Home Furnishings Centre |

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.