Lehman had originally hoped to sell the property to the Forum Development Group and have a project begin at the onset of 2005, but Forum's delayed efforts to get financing made property owner Lehman look for other developers. The Sunnyvale Redevelopment Agency—made up of the same seven people that sit on the city council—granted Lehman an additional 60 days to sell the project to a developer.

Mark Calvert, of Cascade Capital Group, who has represented Lehman to the city throughout the development process, said that exclusive negotiations with Forum ended on Jan. 20 because the Georgia-based firm was moving too slow. Before this recent turn of events, Forum put in more than two years of work developing a plan to turn the empty Town Center Mall property into a Santana Row-type "lifestyle center," with 275,000 square feet of office space, 292 housing units and a million square feet of retail space, including a movie theater.

On March 4, the Redevelopment Agency approved four of the six developers Lehman took bids from, and Lehman has since eliminated one of those four. Calvert said Lehman is negotiating primarily with one developer but declined to name any of the bidders.

Although they're focusing on one primary developer at this time, Calvert said that the other two remaining developers had not been written off—in case the main one fails to come through.

"We've still got to have another bride at the altar," Calvert told the agency, bringing back the marriage analogy often used to describe the downtown negotiations.

Jane Vaughan of Menlo Equities, Project Manager under Forum, said previously that Forum was still involved in negotiations, but neither she nor any other Forum representatives could be reached for comment by press time.

Calvert said many of the developers have made subtle changes to the plan developed by Forum, and he said the project as a whole has improved because of the review it has received.

According to the Disposition, Development and Owner Participation Agreement signed on December 21, 2004, Fourth Quarter Properties XLVIII, LLC.—the company set up by Forum and Lehman together to carry out the project—was supposed to have purchased the property on Dec. 31, 2004.

On Jan. 20, when exclusive negotiations with Forum ended, Lehman asked the city for an initial extension to March 31. On March 23 Forum asked for another extension, which the Redevelopment Agency granted, giving them until May 31 to find a developer.

The city will still have to formally approve of a developer when one is selected and the Disposition, Development and Owner Participation Agreement is transferred to them. If the extension is not enough, the DDOPA itself will have to be amended.