The Cupertino Courier
News
Vallco land site could become a high-rise hotel
By HUGH BIGGAR
Vallco Fashion Park's movie makeover will soon be complete.
The shopping center is expected to open its 3,500-seat, 16-screen movie theater Dec. 20, just in time for the holiday movie season.
The theaters are being built on what was formerly the roof of the mall. Theater-goers will enter through a new entrance on Wolfe Road and take escalators through a central atrium to the top. Vallco officials hope this layout will also encourage movie patrons to shop.
The city of Cupertino also hopes the theaters will drive shopping and boost the city's sales tax revenue. Vallco has historically been Cupertino's largest generator of sales tax, and the mall's decline has hurt the city's bottom line.
Mike Rohde, general manager of Vallco, said the theaters could help the mall generate up to $4 million in revenue for the city. Vallco currently provides about $1.2 million in sales tax revenue.
Shoppers have been in short supply at Vallco in recent years. Rohde said the current vacancy rate for businesses at the shopping center is about 50 percent, a steep decline from the mall's halcyon days. He hopes the mall will be at least 75 percent occupied a year from now.
"It won't only be national tenants, but also local and regional ones," Rohde said. "The theaters and stores will also provide jobs for young people."
After opening in 1976, Vallco served as a regional shopping destination. In later years, its outdated design--an indoor mall--and competition from newer malls such as Santana Row drew customers away.
The new movie theaters, to be operated by the AMC Entertainment chain, are seen as a key to changing this pattern and ensuring anchor stores Sears, JC Penney and Macy's stay at Vallco.
"We want to bring Vallco back to what it was 25 years ago and bring the community together," Councilman Patrick Kwok said.
A controversial mixed-use retail and residential project at Vallco is also a part of plans for Vallco's transformation.
Rohde said if the mixed-use plan falls through because of a referendum on the November ballot, the backup plan would be to build a high-rise hotel on the site.
