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Market Place
City could lose Rolling Hills Center this year
By Michelle C. Crowe
It looks as if 2002 will finally be the year that the old Rolling Hills Center, located at Hacienda Avenue and Burrows Road, is razed. In recent years, the only two viable tenants were the original Goodie's Diner (which later expanded to Goodie's II on Bascom Avenue) and McGoon's Grog Shop.
Owned by the Vecchioli Family Trust, the 7.5-acre parcel is managed by real estate manager Doug Strode in the Los Angeles office of the New York City-based U.S. Trust Company.
The city and the trustee are in discussions with a short list of potential developers looking to get approval for their projects. "We're in discussions with various parties for the sale of the entire property parcel and hope to have a decision within the next couple of weeks," says Strode. He declined to discuss the price, terms and possible buyers at press time, but anticipates releasing additional specifics later this month.
Although several entities have offered to purchase the center in the past, all ended up falling through. (Who would want to buy a failing retail center with less than 20 percent occupancy?) Although still currently zoned for retail use, the eventual buyer will naturally want to develop housing on the site, necessitating city approval for rezoning.
The good news is that with the San Tomas Neighborhood Plan in effect, any new residential project must be comprised of single-family homes conforming to specific architectural requirements--and feature a minimum 9,000-square-foot lot size.
"Due to the issues of lighting, property condition and criminal activity, the city had been putting pressure on the owners and trustee to either demolish or refurbish the center," says community development director Sharon Fierro of the Campbell Planning Department. "They've now committed to demolishing it. So far, they've already completed the asbestos removal and are just waiting for approval from PG&E for the demolition permit."
Although the actual demo will require a temporary shutdown of power for a few hours, Fierro noted that PG&E would notify the neighbors to be affected ahead of time. She expects that component to be completed around mid-January, and the full demolition may be accomplished as soon as the end of January.
Got a local business news tip? We'd love to hear it. Call us at 408.364.2640, ext. 200, or email us at campbellreporter@svcn.com.
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Campbell, California
