Rosemead : Shopping Center Expansion

Rosemead Square, a shopping center built in 1967 at Rosemead Boulevard and the San Bernardino Freeway, is undergoing a $40-million expansion and renovation project.

The center, anchored by a Montgomery Ward department store, will feature the first Kids R Us store in California and an $8-million health club, said Scott Bell of Interstate Consolidated Industries, which owns the center.

Interstate bought the center in 1984, and tried unsuccessfully to get financial help from the Rosemead Redevelopment Agency for the expansion and renovation. Instead, Interstate got private financing.

The retail and business space in the 30-acre center will be expanded from 350,000 to 440,000 square feet, and sales tax revenue is expected to increase from $35 million a year to $66 million.