The Sunnyvale Sun
News
Downtown mall project could return to city soon
Upgrades for Macy's and Target are on the drawing board
By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL
If all goes as planned, the Town Center Mall redevelopment project--now half a year delayed--could be back on track by the end of June, bringing an end to months of worry, rumor and speculation in Sunnyvale.
But the project, if completed, would look significantly different from the plan the city has seen in the past. Target and Macy's could both be upgraded, with Target undergoing a complete closure, redesign and reopening that could last up to a year.
Project manager Jane Vaughan said much of the delay has been a result of trying to negotiate among all the parties who own property in that parcel of the downtown area. Because there are four stakeholders on the property--the city, Fourth Quarter Properties XLVIII LLC, Target and Macy's--plans require four separate approvals.
Vaughan said Forum Development Group, which is the developer on the project and a sister company to Fourth Quarter, tried to push the parties along as quickly as possible.
"The problem with leaning on Macy's and Target is that we can only lean so far and expect to still be able to work with them," she said.
During negotiations, the plan has evolved, adding new parts and reducing previous plans. Vaughan confirmed Forum Development Group is thinking of adding a boutique hotel and a grocery store to the project.
"We think (a grocery store) is a critical component because it will give the downtown an amenity it doesn't have already," she said.
They would also reduce the office space available and increase the number of homes on site from 300 to more than 400.
Vaughan said the additional homes--still within the limits for the downtown--would help bring people to the stores and offices in the complex.
"The more housing we have, the more we can create a real community," Vaughan said.
For-sale housing also helps developers make back some of the money they spent building.
The movie theater would also be scaled down, from a 3,000 seat third-story building to a 2,600 seat second floor structure.
Vaughan said all potential plans are still just ideas, and would require review and approval from the city before being implemented.
Vaughan shared that information with a cross-section of Sunnyvale's business community at a May 11 Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Belmont Village. Mayor Ron Swegles and Councilman Christopher Moylan attended and were eager to hear Vaughan and the Forum Development Group's response to the 60-day notice the council issued almost two months ago.
"The biggest question I get, when I go anywhere, is 'when is the mall going to be done,' " Swegles said.
Swegles said he and the council are encouraged to know work is progressing, but are concerned over some of the changes.
"When this project is done, we want to be proud of it, we don't want to just slap it all together and say 'hey, the mall's open!' " Swegles said.
Vaughan said stores should begin opening in the middle of 2008. An earlier unveiling, such as in time for the 2007 holiday shopping season, would be difficult, she said.
