Between April and August of this year, Brea Mall added a sit-down Italian restaurant, a seafood house, a dumpling restaurant, a two-story athletic club with a pool and waterslide, and an outdoor park with seating and play areas. All of it faces outward, on land that held a Sears for four decades. Every one of these additions gives people a reason to be at the mall without a shopping list.
That isn't a new idea for this property. It's the mall's original idea, back in a new form.
The Rink Under the Food Court
When Brea Mall opened in 1977, it had an ice skating rink where the food court is now. In his account of the mall's early days, former city leader Wayne Wedin wrote that the developer, Homart, wanted the mall to be a destination as well as a set of stores. Parents could drop the kids off to skate while they shopped. Wedin also pushed to bring Nordstrom in, and Homart agreed. He saw the mall as the thing that would make Brea grow "and not grow old."
The rink is long gone. Its logic stayed. Today the mall has Check n' Play, where trained staff supervise children in educational activities while parents shop. The 2026 buildout takes the same reasoning and moves it outdoors, at a much larger scale.
What Went Where Sears Stood
Sears was one of the mall's original anchors and closed in 2018. The Brea City Council gave the redevelopment final approval at its second reading on May 16, 2023. The plan removed the 161,990-square-foot Sears building, its auto center and about 7.42 acres of surface parking to make room for retail, dining, housing, fitness and open space. The Orange County Business Journal described the order of work as outdoor retail and a plaza first, then Life Time and DICK'S Sporting Goods, then apartments last.
The first two phases arrived close together this year:
- April 22: North Italia opened. It was the chain's 50th restaurant.
- April 24: DICK'S Sporting Goods held its grand opening.
- May 6: Pacific Catch opened at 1430 Brea Mall.
- July 3: Sunset Green hosted a celebration for America's 250th anniversary, with free ice cream.
- July 9: Life Time Brea opened at 1600 Brea Mall Road.
- August 7 and August 31: Din Tai Fung held a reservation-only soft opening at 1401 Brea Mall, followed by its grand opening.
Sunset Green connects these openings. The Register's Brea columnist describes it as a park-like outdoor area with tables, seating and play spots for children. New Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn stores face it, and Pacific Catch, North Italia and The Melt are close by. The Melt was already open by February, serving burgers, grilled cheese and milkshakes. In 1977, the reason to linger was a rink inside the building. In 2026, it's a lawn, a play area and a few restaurants outside the old Sears wall.
A Gym Across Brea Mall Road
Life Time is the biggest piece of the shift and the clearest sign of what Simon is building. The club sits across Brea Mall Road from the Sunset Green shops and Nordstrom. It covers nearly 123,000 square feet: an 85,000-square-foot building plus 38,000 square feet of outdoor amenities on three acres.
What's inside shows how long the club expects people to stay. It has five pickleball courts, three of them indoor and climate-controlled and two outdoors. There's a beach club with a leisure pool, waterslides, a six-lane lap pool and cabanas. The Kids Academy takes children from three months to 11 years old, the LifeCafe has a full-service bar, and a free work lounge is open before and after workouts. The Register's columnist toured the club before it opened. She reported separate Kids Academy rooms for infants, toddlers and older children, with a child-sized rock-climbing wall in the older kids' room. It's the 1977 skating rink idea, built for a whole morning.
Simon described the opening in terms that match Homart's original goal:
"We're thrilled to welcome Life Time as an important milestone in the continued evolution of Brea Mall as a more dynamic, mixed-use destination," said Sundesh Shah, Simon's Senior Vice President, Specialty Development.
Brea is Life Time's 10th club in California, its fourth in Orange County and its seventh at a Simon center.
Din Tai Fung Is Open, and Kalbi Social Club Is Still Coming
Din Tai Fung was listed as a summer opening in February and made its date. Simon's Brea Mall homepage now labels it "Officially Open." The restaurant's own Brea page lists hours and a waitlist.
Kalbi Social Club was also listed for summer. It was described as an upscale Korean barbecue restaurant with tableside grilling. As of early October, Simon's homepage still marks it "Opening Soon" and gives no new date. TravisMathew and The Kebab Lab were both announced for spring. We couldn't find any later confirmation that either has opened, so check before you plan a visit around them.
The last phase will take longer. AMLI Brea is now under construction near the mall's south edge. It's an eight-story, 378-unit apartment building above an 885-space parking structure, and it's expected to open in 2028. Of those 885 spaces, 292 are set aside for shoppers and diners. The 2023 approval described 380 homes and an earlier announcement said 377, so expect the count to shift a little before move-in. When the 2023 vote happened, local coverage expected first residents in 2025 or 2026. The current 2028 date replaces that estimate.
Brea Plaza Is Doing the Same Thing Down Imperial Highway
The same approach is showing up a few minutes south. Brea Plaza, at Imperial Highway and the 57 Freeway, now has a new two-story building on its north side. Barnes & Noble opened on its ground floor at 439 S. Associated Road on November 5, 2025, in a space that had been a Carter's store. A bookstore works like the rink and the lawn. It's a place people go to browse and stay a while.
The center will mark its reopening with the "Bash on Brea Plaza" on Thursday, October 8, from 4 to 6 p.m. at 1639 E. Imperial Highway. The free event includes a Brea Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting, a scavenger hunt and giveaways. Familiar tenants remain, including Total Wine, Mother's Market, Lucille's BBQ and Buca di Beppo. Chef Cut is still listed as coming soon, with no date posted.
The Rest of the Fall, by Location
Simon's events page hasn't posted any Halloween or holiday programming for Sunset Green yet. For now, Brea's fall gatherings are split between the plaza, Downtown Brea and the Civic & Cultural Center:
- Oct. 8, 4 to 6 p.m.: Bash on Brea Plaza, 1639 E. Imperial Highway.
- Through Oct. 30: the Brea Downtown Costume Contest. The listing doesn't give a venue or contest details.
- Oct. 31, 5 to 7 p.m.: Treats on the Street, Downtown Brea at Birch Street and Brea Boulevard.
- Dec. 3, 6:30 to 9 p.m.: the free Brea Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Civic & Cultural Center, 1 Civic Center Circle.
- Dec. 6, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: the Holiday Car Show, Downtown Brea at Birch Street and Brea Boulevard.
If Sunset Green adds holiday events, they'll be the first winter test of the mall's new outdoor space. The Kalbi Social Club opening date is the other item to watch for on Simon's homepage.
Country Queen has followed Brea Mall from Sears anchor to Sunset Green, and we keep a close eye on how projects like AMLI Brea and the Brea Plaza redevelopment affect the blocks around them. If you're curious what the mall's next phase could mean for your own street, Country Queen Real Estate is glad to walk through it with you. Schedule a Free Consultation.
