The Cupertino Courier

Council approves office building for 'Heart of City'

By Pam Marino

In their dreams, Cupertino officials envisioned a retailoffice showcase where an abandoned gas station now sits on one of the city's most prominent corners.

Dreams don't always come true.

The plan, backed by former Mayor John Bautista and others since last year, was to combine lots on the entire northeast corner of De Anza and Stevens Creek boulevards--the gas station, two office buildings on Stevens Creek, and the Comerica Bank building on De Anza--to create the unique retail/office complex.

Despite urgings from city officials, the plan fell apart last fall when the various land owners involved could not finalize the deal.

At last week's March 16 City Council meeting, the council unanimously approved plans for a 44,033-square-foot office building next door to the gas station.

The owner of the old station at the corner of De Anza and Stevens Creek boulevards, Mike Khaziri, is pushing ahead with plans for a combination carwash and gas station. The plans are scheduled to go before the Planning Commission April 13.

At the council meeting, Councilwoman Sandra James voiced what some other city leaders were thinking.

"I'm just disappointed that we couldn't wrap around and have that whole piece together," she said. "I'm still hoping maybe somehow we'll be able to bring people to the table and negotiate something."

Khaziri and his business representative, Michael Aminian, said that's not likely.

"As far as I'm concerned that old project...they put that to sleep a long time ago," Khaziri said. "As a property owner I don't want to play games anymore. I want to get it done."

Khaziri said he has lost thousands of dollars as well as time and energy trying to work with the city and the surrounding property owners. Khaziri bought the lot when it was still contaminated from the original gas station, located there for 36 years. He went through the costly decontamination process and wants to finally see a return on his investment.

Khaziri originally went to the Planning Commission in August 1996 with plans for the combination gas station/carwash. Commissioners were generally unhappy with his request because the intersection lies within Cupertino's "Heart of the City" plan area.

That plan was the brainchild of a group of urban planners, architects, designers, land-use planning experts and others several years ago. Because it is nearly impossible to build a traditional-style downtown, the plan was supposed to help define Cupertino to those driving through the main intersection and down Stevens Creek and De Anza boulevards. The hope was to have "landmark" types of buildings at the intersection.

The commission eventually approved the gas station, because the lot was seen as too small for a landmark building.

But at the City Council level later that fall, Khaziri's project hit snags as a dispute arose with a neighboring property owner over an access to his lot from De Anza. Eventually the council rejected Khaziri's plans, but said he could come back at a later date if a deal could not be reached with surrounding property owners to create a retail/office complex.

In the fall of 1997, the Planning Commission was faced with a request to demolish the Chevron station across the intersection from Khaziri's lot to make way for a new station. Commissioners struggled over three meetings with the design for the new Chevron station. Again they expressed angst over having a gas station at the intersection. Again they approved the plans, citing Chevron's long-term lease on the property and the small size of the lot.

At one point a spokesman for Chevron said that a gas station was "a bitter pill to swallow," but that it was the best use for the location.

Aminian also insists that a gas station is the best use of Khaziri's lot.

"It's going to be a gas station. The site has been a gas station for 36 years. ... I'd hate to see my client get stalled again."

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