SANTA ANA, Calif. (CNS) — The Orange County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved new retail operators at John Wayne Airport, but will have to seek new proposals on one of the largest spaces because no company put in a bid for it.

The board chose Host International Inc. to operate food and beverage outlets and Hudson Group and Paradies Lagardere as the retail operators. The terms of the leases, which are still to be negotiated, will be for 15 years with upgrades planned in seven years.

Some of the concepts offered by Host include Mama's Comfort Food & Cocktails, the Ducks Breakway Bar, Cellar Society, Left Coast Brewing, the Habit Burger Grill, Auntie Anne's Pretzel Perfect, Bonchon Korean Chicken, OC To-Go, Dunkin Donuts and Panera Bread.

The Hudson concepts include PCH Provisions, MAC, Jo Malone & Sunglass Hut, Boutique Del Mar, Brookstone and Orange Coast Magazine by Hudson.

Paradies' concepts include Harbor Exchange, Market 949 + The Goods Express, The Goods @ SNA, and SoCAL Essentials.

Board Chairman Don Wagner said it was a "tough decision."

Supervisor Katrina Foley agreed it was "very hard because I think everybody who bid on these packages listened to what we wanted — we wanted a taste of Orange County, we wanted local flavor, local products and locally sourced."

Wagner added, "I think the Ducks are a habit at the airport."

Orange County Supervisor Doug Chaffee voted against the Paradies concept.

Officials for the retailers said they had reached "labor peace" agreements with workers at the airport, but when Foley suggested adding language in the terms to be negotiated into the lease Orange County Board Vice Chairman Andrew Do objected saying it could cause legal problems for the county with vendors that wanted to challenge the decisions the board made over other companies.

"That is something we can negotiate separately in a way that is outside of the contract," Do said.

Orange County Supervisor Vince Sarmiento quipped, "That's what happens when you have five lawyers up here."

Sarmiento said he supported the "spirit" of what Foley proposed, but understood it could get "technically tricky." 

Sarmiento added the executives were "on the record" with labor agreements and that he trusted airport officials to "work these things out."

Chaffee noted, "When you say labor peace that doesn't mean labor agreement. It means there's a mechanism to a labor agreement."

The board directed staff to seek bids again on another part of the airport since officials did not receive any response to requests for proposals.

"One of the things I noticed is this was the former space where Javier's was," Sarmiento said. "It's a very large space and there was a lot investment in infrastructure there."

Sarmiento suggested a Mexican or Vietnamese restaurant concept, which "celebrates the diversity of the county."

Wagner said he also thought it was the size of the space that presented some challenges.

"Let's cast a wide net, let's figure out as best as we can what the hold up was there," Wagner said. "Dream big and dream flexibly. Let's see what we can do to bring some quality operators to those spaces."