Within the next 18 to 20 months, DDR OliverMcMillan expects to complete some $500 million in urban, mixed-use retail and entertainment projects in California and Nevada. Here are some key projects in the pipeline or under way:

    The company owns and continues the development of this three-phase project in and adjacent to the Gaslamp Quarter. The first phase, the Pacific Gaslamp Theatres 15, opened in November 1997. Phases two and three of the mixed-use entertainment/retail project will complete the Quarter's key epicenter block (bounded by Fifth and Sixth avenues between G and Market streets) with retail, including a Borders Books and Music. The effort extends the project across Sixth Avenue to two blocks in the northeast "Arts District" quadrant of East Village at G Street.

    Construction began in mid-February on OceanPlace Cinemas, a mixed-use retail and entertainment center considered a key element of Oceanside's long-desired downtown revitalization. The $19 million, 104,000-square-foot project is on a vacant two-block section centered on the core intersection of Mission Avenue and Coast Highway. The central anchor will be a 60,000-square-foot, 16-screen Regal Cinemas. In addition, OceanPlace will have a 22,000-square-foot live entertainment complex as well as some 23,000 square feet of space for retail, restaurant and specialty food service tenants.

    Vista Village will be a $76 million mixed-use retail and entertainment project with elements that include a multiplex theater as well as an additional 188,070 square feet of gross leasable space for quality dining establishments, higher-end retailers and an upscale market. The 38-acre site is adjacent to the city-owned Wave Waterpark and a community center, both of which will be retained. Conceived as a "next generation" urban retail village, Vista Village will incorporate improvement of the Rancho Buena Vista Creek, which runs through the property and will be channeled to create an attractive park-and-water "creekwalk." Main Street, formerly Vista Way, will be extended west through the project to a large, paved, circular Town Center linking the street to Rancho Buena Vista Creek.

    Sited on four city blocks along the Truckee River in downtown Reno, construction of Riverside's first component — a state-of-the-art Regal Cinemas multiplex — is under way. Other components will include a collection of shops, restaurants and cafes, and multiple public plazas along the river. Envisioned as the catalyst project for the Reno Redevelopment Agency's river corridor, a key element involves joint-venture partnerships to convert the historic Riverside and Mapes hotels — both listed on the National Register of Historic Places — into live-work artists' lofts and luxury time-share suites.

    The $45 million Screenland will cover three blocks at the heart of downtown Culver City, centered at the key intersection of Culver and Washington boulevards. Recalling the city's historic prominence as "The Heart of Screenland," the project envisions some 150,000 to 175,000 square feet of leasable space, including a two-story, 75,000-square-foot cinema seating 3,200; 40,000 to 45,000 square feet of space for quality dining establishments, cafes and bistros; 8,000 square feet of space for upscale retail; 30,000 to 60,000 square feet of loft-style office suites; a 10,000-square-foot open-air plaza and a 900- to 1,100-space parking structure.

    A June groundbreaking is expected for the 500,000-square-foot Queensway Bay retail project, an architecturally unique mixed-use retail, entertainment and dining complex covering 18 acres of prime tidelands property on both sides of Shoreline Drive. Its signature structure — a bridge called the Walk of 1,000 Lights that will span Shoreline Drive and connect the northern and southern sections of the complex — will be bordered by a 30-foot-high, lighted faux roller coaster. The bridge structure is located almost exactly on the site of the former Cyclone Racer roller coaster. Nearby will be a 100-foot Ferris wheel ride, a carousel and midway-style shops and food outlets. Queensway Bay has six distinctive retail zones.