Photograph by Robert Scheer
The tower of El Paseo de Saratoga crumbles under metal jaws.
By Julie Mehta
What used to be El Paseo de Saratoga shopping center is now heaps of wood chips and metal scraps and swirls of dust. After several months of delays, demolition of the 22-year-old center began on April 22 and climaxed with the destruction of the old center's 35-foot centerpiece tower on May 2.
A crowd of onlookers shielded their eyes against glaring sunlight as red Spanish-style roof tiles showered down and a pair of metal jaws chewed up and spit out the remains of the structure. When it was all over, all that remained were four foundation pillars, a clear vista of the verdant hills in the distance, and the new owners' vision for the center that will rise out of this debris.
Owner Helios Management Company has leased out more than 60 percent of the 341,200-square-foot center, located off Saratoga Avenue in San Jose near the Saratoga border, including five of its six anchor spaces. Two of them, AMC Theatres and Lucky Stores, are old tenants that will return in grander style.
The new 62,100-square-foot Lucky superstore will include a full-service seafood department, bakery, deli, pharmacy, floral department, and full-service Bank of America branch. And the new 52,700-square-foot AMC theater complex will have 14 screens and stadium-style seating for 3,000 people.
"Historically, a grocery store and theater are not likely to be found together. But people typically shop for groceries in the morning or late afternoon and go to the movies at night, so there's some nice feeding off each other there," said Jonathan Genton, director and chief operating officer of the Helios firm.
OfficeMax, Inc., Super Crown Books, and Premium Pets complete the list of anchors. Other tenants include Hollywood Video, Delia's Cleaners, Great Clips, Noah's Bagel's, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Juice Club, Le Boulanger, Pollo's, and Mimi's Cafe and Cucina! Cucina!, two restaurants new to the Bay Area.
Now, the owners are looking for specialty stores to round out the mix.
"We want local tenants with great products. That gets more local flavor and character into the center, which makes it a fun place to shop," Genton said.
The demoliton of the center was postponed from December to last month because Lucky and AMC had wanted more time to sort out their personnel. Both stores closed late last month instead of last fall, when most of the old center's stores closed their doors.
Neighbors of the center were notified before demolition began and some plantings and mementos from the old center were given to residents who requested them. Though it is gone now, the old center will live on in the form of recycled materials used in the new center. Concrete and asphalt will be used as sub-base under the new buildings and parking lots, wood from interior partitions and cabinetry will be mulched for soil amendment, and the remains of trees from the interior of the center will be ground into compost off-site. The owners say the trees around the perimeter of the center will all be saved.
Construction of the new center is scheduled to begin in June and completed by the end of the year.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, May 8, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved