Published: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 Retail steers clear of Pike   By John W. Cox, Staff writer LONG BEACH Visitors to The Pike at Rainbow Harbor will be able to dine and be entertained, but there may not be a place for them to shop, developers of the $100 million downtown waterfront development proposal said Tuesday at a groundbreaking. While the project's leasing team continues to seek retailers, none have agreed to replace Barnes & Noble and CostPlus, both of which had signed leases but pulled out, said Developers Diversified Realty Corp. representatives. DDR Senior Vice President Eric Mallory said the company will continue to seek retail tenants. "Once the activity is there, the retailers will come," Mallory said. Among other new developments disclosed Tuesday by DDR: GameWorks, the national arcade chain, has signed a lease to occupy a 40,000-square-foot space that will include a restaurant and bar. The Pike project has been reduced by 70,000 square feet to 370,000 square feet, reflecting DDR's decision to change the project's waterfront restaurant buildings from two stories to one because of leasing difficulties. Other tenants at the Pike, formerly known as the Queensway Bay project, include a 14-screen movie theater and at least 16 restaurants. Many obstacles The Pike project, now about three years behind schedule and facing a make-or-break deadline less than two weeks away, is to be built on 18 acres of vacant city land between the convention center and the Aquarium of the Pacific. The project carries huge political weight for city officials, as well as a significant financial effect for DDR. Despite Tuesday's groundbreaking ceremony, construction cannot begin until the city closes a lease agreement with DDR, the deadline for which is May 23 or 26. City officials say they are unsure which date applies. If the deadline is met, construction is expected to begin immediately and take about 15 months. One potential obstacle to closing the leasing deal was overcome last week when a judge dismissed an environmental group's lawsuit that had targeted an agreement between the city and the State Lands Commission that was designed to remove development restrictions on the project site. In addition to loads of paperwork that city officials say must be completed including final documents for a $47 million bond issue to support the project the project needs a key signature from Gov. Gray Davis. He has not endorsed the deal between the state and the State Lands Commission. A spokesman for the agency that oversees the commission said Tuesday that the proposed agreement between the city and the agency is still under review, and that it is unclear when the governor will sign it. DDR's project has missed many deadlines before but has won extensions from the City Council. But even though Tuesday's groundbreaking had no legal significance, it provided an opportunity for DDR and city officials to congratulate each other on their progress and make tongue-in-cheek references about the many leasing and financial difficulties now mostly behind them. "I feel like pinching myself to be sure that this is really happening today," Mayor Beverly O'Neill said in a brief speech to the roughly 100 people present. Mallory said the company selected Tuesday for the event rather than waiting until the deadline had been met because everything looked to be falling into place. "We feel that, for all intents and purposes, it's done," he said. DDR staged the ceremony in a large tent that had been set up near the northwest corner of Pine Avenue and Shoreline Drive. Tuesday's event featured clowns, carnival games and a Dixieland jazz band a nostalgic reference to the original Pike amusement zone on roughly the same site from about 1900 until 1979. There was no evidence of the opposition that the Pike project has met from downtown restaurateurs, environmentalists and others. When time came for the actual breaking of ground, O'Neill, City Manager Henry Taboada and the head of a defunct citizens advisory committee on the Pike project helped four DDR executives dig ceremonial shovels into a mound of plant soil brought in for the event.