Huntington Beach / Coastal Orange County
Grocery anchors in Huntington Beach are spread across the city rather than stacked in one place. Bella Terra on Edinger Avenue pairs Whole Foods with a Costco and a long list of national shop tenants. The 19600 and 19700 blocks of Beach Boulevard near Adams hold Albertsons, Mother's Market and service tenants like Great Clips and Hand & Stone, and Brookhurst at Adams has Sprouts with Ulta's Beachmont Plaza nearby. The three Trader Joe's (Main Street, Brookhurst and Huntington Harbour), two Vons and the Warner Avenue Sprouts cover the rest of the city, so ask which grocer is closest to your customer before you pick a center.
Population
195,240
Median HHI
$120,919
Median age
44
Homeownership
55.4%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Primary retail corridors
Beach Boulevard · Pacific Coast Highway · Main Street · Edinger Avenue · Adams Avenue · Warner Avenue
Specific shopping centers in Huntington Beach that already carry credible co-tenancy for this use. Listed in approximate order of fit.
7777 Edinger Avenue
Anchors / key tenants: Whole Foods, Costco, Kohl's, REI, Ulta Beauty, The Cheesecake Factory
Size: 778,000 SF
PGIM-owned regional center, ≈96.8% leased. Whole Foods anchors the grocery; Costco holds a ground lease. Recent reuse: Staples closed in early 2023 and was redeveloped into Ulta Beauty. Mixed-use Residences component adds steady weekday foot traffic.
Existing operators are the most honest comp for whether a use can support Huntington Beach rents. These are publicly visible grocery-anchored retail space businesses currently trading in the market.
Whole Foods Market
7881 Edinger Avenue, Huntington Beach, CA 92647
Grocery anchor at Bella Terra (center address 7777 Edinger Avenue), per Whole Foods' own store page and the center's directory. DJM Capital, the center's developer and manager, describes Bella Terra as a 778,000 sq ft open-air regional center and says its expansion added a 150,000 sq ft Costco with a gas station and 467 apartments. The center directory also lists Costco, Kohl's, REI, Old Navy, Barnes & Noble and Cost Plus World Market, with inline shops such as Philz Coffee, Nekter Juice Bar, See's Candies, T-Mobile, European Wax Center, ULTA Beauty and LensCrafters.
Trader Joe's Huntington Beach (store 47)
18681 Main Street, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
One of three Trader Joe's stores the chain lists in the city.
Trader Joe's Huntington Beach - Brookhurst (store 241)
21431 Brookhurst Street, Huntington Beach, CA 92646
Listed on Trader Joe's Huntington Beach page.
Trader Joe's Huntington Harbour (store 244)
16821 Algonquin Street, Huntington Beach, CA 92649
Trader Joe's names this store Huntington Harbour.
Albertsons Beach & Adams
19640 Beach Boulevard, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
Great Clips calls its salon at 19670 Beach Boulevard 'Newland Center', and Hand & Stone (19732 Beach) and Mother's Market (19770 Beach) sit on the same block by address, each per its own site.
Albertsons Bolsa Chica & Heil
16600 Bolsa Chica Street, Huntington Beach, CA 92649
One of three Huntington Beach stores on Albertsons' locator.
Albertsons Yorktown
7201 Yorktown Avenue, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
Third Albertsons in the city, per the chain's locator.
Vons Edinger Ave
5922 Edinger Avenue, Huntington Beach, CA 92649
One of two Vons stores listed for the city.
Vons Atlanta Ave
8891 Atlanta Avenue, Huntington Beach, CA 92646
Second Vons in the city, per Vons' locator.
Sprouts Farmers Market (store 213)
9861 Adams Avenue, Huntington Beach, CA 92646
Near Brookhurst and Adams, where Ulta's locator names Beachmont Plaza (10071 Adams) and Great Clips names its Brook-Adams salon (9842 Adams).
Sprouts Farmers Market, Warner Ave (store 278)
6942 Warner Avenue, Huntington Beach, CA 92647
Second Sprouts in the city.
Mother's Market & Kitchen
19770 Beach Boulevard, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
Mother's also lists a Sunset Beach store at 16400 Pacific Coast Highway, Unit 112, Huntington Beach, CA 92649.
01
Zone first: Zoning Code Section 211.04 lists Food & Beverage Sales (groceries, liquor stores and delis) as permitted in the CG district and not permitted in CO. In the CV visitor commercial district it is L-12, which Section 211.05 limits to existing facilities expanding by up to 20% of floor or display area, so a new market on a CV parcel does not have a by-right path.
02
Prepared food: the Chapter 204 definition moves a store into Catering Services or Eating and Drinking Establishments once 20% or more of transactions are prepared food. A grocer with a large deli, hot bar or cafe should get Planning's classification in writing, because the parking ratio changes from 1 per 200 sq ft to as much as 1 per 60 sq ft for a restaurant with more than 12 seats.
03
Beer and wine: Food & Beverage Sales with alcohol is a Zoning Administrator conditional use permit in CG, but Section 211.05(N)(1) exempts a retail market that gives no more than 10% of its floor area to alcohol sales, display and storage, as long as it is not tied to fuel sales. Keep the alcohol set inside that 10% if you want to skip the hearing.
04
Parking and loading for a box: Section 231.04 requires 1 space per 200 sq ft for food and beverage sales and one 14 by 20 by 14 foot loading space for each 20,000 sq ft or fraction of floor area (none under 20,000 sq ft, three at most above 60,000). A 25,000 sq ft grocer therefore needs 125 spaces and two loading spaces before any shop space is counted.
05
Which rulebook applies: Bella Terra has its own specific plan, the Beach and Edinger Corridors Specific Plan (effective April 16, 2010, amended May 4, 2015) covers much of those two corridors, and Pacific City is District 7 of the Downtown Specific Plan. Confirm which document governs the parcel before relying on the Chapter 211 table, and budget for a Coastal Development Permit under Chapter 245 if the site is in the coastal zone (Section 211.08).
06
Building out a pad or expansion: Section 211.05(Q) requires a Zoning Administrator conditional use permit for building on vacant land, additions of 10,000 sq ft or more, additions of 50% or more of the existing floor area, or additions within 300 feet of a residential zone or use. For an inline conversion, Section 231.04(C) lets the Director waive a parking increase of up to five spaces on a site with two or more uses and at least 50 existing spaces, outside Coastal Development Permit projects.
Zoning, licensing, and demographic figures on this page come from the public records below. Codes and licenses change, so confirm with the city and the licensing agency before you sign.