Downtown to become construction junction

City readies itself for redevelopment

By Daniel Hindin

Get ready for a lot of dust. Here comes the new look of downtown Sunnyvale.

Construction will start in two different areas of downtown in the next couple of weeks. Delays have plagued the progress of construction on the new-look Town Center Mall, but Jerry Schutte, a principle with American Mall Properties, seems confident that the delays are a thing of the past. Schutte says construction on the first phase will begin after July 4.

"I am very happy to finally be in the construction phase of this project," he said. "With so many different parties involved, it's very difficult to get things moving."

Agreements have been worked out with the mall's anchor stores, and AMP has finalized funding from all its independent financial backers. In turn, city officials have committed their $25 million share to the project.

Phase one of construction begins with the parking lot on the southeast side of the mall. The lot had been given some attention earlier, before operations were halted. Concrete reinforcements will be made near the existing parking garage during the following week. After these reinforcements dry, which planners says should take about four weeks, the demolition of one-third of the current parking structure and the vacant bank adjacent to it will begin. The demolition will clear the necessary room for the new Barnes & Noble and Old Navy stores.

Soon after, the construction of the Wave section of the project will begin. A walking section, slated to be built between Washington and Iowa Avenues to Mathilda, will include many new shops and restaurants. It will be anchored on its east side by a 20-screen movie theater.

Sections of the Wave will be outdoors and some will be indoors. The outdoor section will be bordered by trees and extensive landscaping, and will include an "al fresco" sitting area.

Schutte predicts that most of the Wave will be completed by May of next year. The only part that will take a bit longer is the theater, he said, which should be completed a few months later.

City officials expect the new and improved version of the mall and downtown area will lead to more shoppers and more traffic.

The city is planning and preparing as much as possible for the increase New parking structures downtown will add about 2,600 parking spaces to the area. A 900-space structure will be built at 300 S. Murphy, and a 1,300-space structure will be erected at the intersection of Washington St. and Sunnyvale Ave.

About 400 additional spaces are planned to accommodate redevelopment and the projected increase in activity at the new Caltrain station. Construction on the train station also will begin in the next few weeks.

Christine Dunn, a representative of Caltrain, said that construction on a new parking lot would begin sometime this month. Work on the actual station will begin this fall, with the building of a new parking garage slated to begin in January of next year. "The entire project should be completed by sometime late next year," she said.

Trudi Ryan, the city's Planning Officer, said plans are in place to solve parking problems that could arise during completion of the projects.

"Construction will be phased so that the surface lot won't be touched until the garage has been completed," she said. Meanwhile, if problems do arise, commuters will be directed to the little used 130-space parking lot on the corner of Charles and Evelyn Ave. Commuters who park there will have to use the walkway under Mathilda Avenue.

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