SR Marketplace: Owners reveal plans

The Vons supermarket, locally known as “new Vons,” is one of the main anchors of Scripps Ranch Marketplace.

SR Marketplace: Owners reveal plans

Regency Centers gained ownership of the majority of Scripps Ranch Marketplace in December 2017. The shopping center, best known for what locals call “new Vons,” was built in two phases. Regency Centers now owns the part stretching from the CVS Pharmacy east to the end of the block at Spring Canyon Road.

The Regency Centers portion includes 132,000 square feet of space and, perhaps the biggest news is that the last vacancy has been leased by a brewery. This fact was recently confirmed by Chris Sanchez, the leasing agent for Regency Centers who is responsible for Scripps Ranch Marketplace.

“We signed a lease with a local pub and brewery operator who is going to be opening Scripps Ranch Ale House in (approximately) August,” Sanchez said.

This last space is in the free-standing building on the very southeastern corner of the block next door to Mission Federal Credit Union, in the space vacated by Pizza Rev.

Regency Centers is a very large company and Sanchez is responsible for leasing spaces in its Southern California lower portfolio, from southern Orange County through San Diego. Other nearby shopping centers owned by Regency Centers are 4S Commons Town Center and Twin Peaks Plaza Shopping Center in Poway.

While Sanchez oversees the leasing, the company maintains its own property management team for the shopping centers. The local office is in Solana Beach.

“We’re a large, national, publicly traded company; however, the asset management team here with leasing and property management is local and we plan to operate and manage this shopping center to the local residents’ needs and wants,” Sanchez said.

He revealed that part of the plan is to eventually improve the dining selection as openings occur.

“In general, we’re looking to upgrade the tenant mix with better food offerings,” he said. “We feel the people of Scripps Ranch are underserved in better, healthier, more relevant food offerings. That’s really our goal, to improve the tenant mix.”

A brief description of the area in which Scripps Ranch Marketplace is located unveils the reason Regency Centers purchased this property.

“The retail market is generally strong in the core areas with good population density and good average household incomes,” Sanchez said.

He noted that the center is located along Scripps Poway Parkway, a major thoroughfare near I-15. He said about 42,000 vehicles on average drive past the center each day. In addition, the present leaseholders make up a decent combination of businesses offerings and appealing assortment of goods and services.

“The shopping center is made up of Regency Centers’ real bread and butter,” Sanchez explained. “The grocery store- and drug store-anchored shopping center is predominantly what Regency Centers owns and operates throughout the nation. Your typical customer here is shopping for their daily needs: groceries, medical services, dental, veterinarian services, and there’s also a bit of your leisure.”

He pointed to the Starbucks coffee shop and the nearby courtyard with tables and seating.

“You also have several food offerings, all the way from an Asian food option to more of an American style pizzeria in Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza to a coastal grill in Rubio’s to Mediterranean cuisine in Luna Grill,” he added, emphasizing the many reasons Scripps Ranch Marketplace remains an active center of commerce.