The Sears store and auto center at Brea Mall covered 161,990 square feet. The plan that replaced them adds only 47,425 square feet of commercial space beyond what was there before. Most of the change on that side of the mall went to things other than shopping: a fitness club with more floor space than many department stores, sit-down restaurants you can enter from outside, a large plaza, and an eight-story apartment building that is only now rising.
That changes the reason to go to Brea Mall on a weeknight. As holiday season starts, the former Sears side has become a place for dinner, a workout, or a walk across the plaza, and it will be next to an active construction site until spring 2029.
What the city approved in 2023
On May 2, 2023, the City of Brea approved a 15.5-acre project. It demolished the closed Sears store and auto center along with 7.42 acres of surface parking and replaced them with retail, restaurants, for-rent apartments, a resort-style fitness center and an outdoor gathering space. The state CEQA filing set the residential part at 380 units.
The Orange County Business Journal has put the cost of the overall redevelopment by Simon Property Group, the mall's owner, at $300 million. In November 2025 the Business Journal reported that a 119,000-square-foot outdoor plaza on the southwest side was finished. That plaza alone covers more ground than the entire net gain in commercial space.
The biggest new tenant is a gym
Life Time opened its Brea Mall athletic country club on July 9, 2026. The building is 85,000 square feet, and the club totals nearly 123,000 square feet once its outdoor amenities are included. According to Life Time's announcement, it is the company's tenth California location and fourth in Orange County.
The building is about half the size of the Sears store and auto center it replaced, and it comes close to the 47,425 square feet of net new commercial space on its own. On a weekday morning, many of the cars on that side of the mall now belong to members of a gym.
Then came the restaurants
The new wing was designed with outdoor access to its shops and restaurants, and the mall also got a new entrance during the overhaul. The restaurants that opened there in 2026 are the kind you plan an evening around:
| Restaurant | What it serves | When it opened |
|---|---|---|
| North Italia | Italian | April 2026 |
| Pacific Catch | Sustainable seafood | Open by late May 2026 |
| Din Tai Fung | Soup dumplings and noodles | Friday, Aug. 7, 2026 |
| Kalbi Social Club | Upscale Korean barbecue | Open by fall 2026 |
The Orange County Register reported that North Italia opened in April. Locale Magazine reported Pacific Catch officially open in a May 21 story.
Din Tai Fung's Brea restaurant is 14,000 square feet and is the chain's fourth in Orange County. It joined locations at South Coast Plaza, the Downtown Disney District and Irvine Spectrum Center, which opened in February. Before Aug. 7, the closest options for North Orange County diners were in Anaheim and farther south. Brea now has one of its own.
Kalbi Social Club is listed as open on Simon's Brea Mall directory. The Register described it as an upscale Korean barbecue restaurant best known for kalbi short ribs cooked on tabletop grills. For families who usually drive to Buena Park or Fullerton for Korean barbecue, it adds an option inside a mall they may already visit for errands.
There are faster meals on the same side too. The Melt, which serves burgers, grilled cheese and milkshakes, was open by early March. The directory also lists Onigilly and Palmetto Superfoods, an açaí bowl and smoothie concept, as coming soon.
The shopping that did arrive
New stores did open, but most of them are apparel and specialty brands, not another large anchor. The Register's March roundup listed UNIQLO, H&M, The North Face, Alo Yoga, Purificación Garcia and EverEve among the mall's newer stores, along with a Rivian showroom. Inside the mall, HeyTea opened with fruit-and-tea drinks such as the Grape Boom. Caitlyn Minimalist, a local jewelry brand, now appears in the mall's directory. The Register said Shibuyala, a Japanese beauty retailer carrying J-beauty and K-beauty products, would come in 2027.
In July 2026, The Registry reported that Simon had signed 11 more retail and dining tenants for Brea Mall. The restaurants and the gym came first, and more stores are still arriving.
The building going up next door
The concrete structure climbing beside the mall is AMLI Brea. It is an eight-story building with 377 apartments at 1650 Brea Mall, developed by AMLI Residential and Simon Property Group. According to a Nov. 6 report from The Registry, it is the final phase of the overhaul. Preleasing is scheduled for fall 2028, with the first residents moving in during spring 2029. The current plan is three units fewer than the 380 the city approved in 2023.
This tower is the reason the new wing put dining, fitness and a plaza ahead of retail. Once it is finished, several hundred households will live within walking distance of Din Tai Fung, Life Time and the outdoor plaza. Until then, the new wing will sit beside an active construction site for about two and a half more years from this fall. Shoppers parking on that side should plan for construction nearby through at least the 2027 and 2028 holiday seasons.
The holiday calendar on the new side
This is the first holiday season with the whole new wing open, and Simon's holiday listing runs through Dec. 24.
- Santa Photos, now through Dec. 24
- Santa Paws, pet photos with Santa, Sunday, Nov. 29
- A Very Merry Play Date, Friday, Dec. 4, 4 to 6 p.m.
- Angel Tree, Dec. 4 through Dec. 13
- Caring Santa, Sunday, Dec. 6
- Menorah Lighting, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 6 to 7 p.m.
- Holiday Entertainment, Dec. 9 through 11, with details still to come on the mall's page
The city's own celebration takes place the night before the Play Date. The Brea Tree Lighting Ceremony is Thursday, Dec. 3, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the City of Brea Art Gallery, 1 Civic Center Circle. Admission is free, and the evening includes live entertainment and Santa. The Civic Center and the new mall wing are close enough for dinner at North Italia or Kalbi Social Club before the lights go on, and the Menorah Lighting and Holiday Entertainment fill the next week at the mall.
At Jin Hong Team, we follow changes like this one because they shape how a part of Brea is used every day, from a quiet weeknight parking lot to an eight-story building with residents on the way. If you own a home near the mall and want to understand how the area's development fits into your home's value, request a free home valuation and we'll go through the numbers with you.
