The Sunnyvale Sun
News
Developer told to maintain planned retail downtown
By Cody Kraatz
The Sunnyvale Planning Commission looked over Sunnyvale Town Center landscaping and site layout proposals, shooting down some of the developer's plans.
It said the property manager, Sand Hill Properties, cannot go below the 486,500 square feet of retail space the city approved in February. Sand Hill had proposed a 60,000-square-foot retail reduction, arguing this would be offset by a 200-room, 133,000-square-foot hotel and 40,000 more square feet of office space. It hopes to land a corporate headquarters in two five-story office buildings on Mathilda Avenue.
"We said no," said commissioner Laura Babcock, adding that the community was adamant that it wanted shopping and dining choices downtown, not housing or offices. "That's what downtown means to them. I really feel that we would be doing our community a disservice to approve a plan with less retail."
Jeff Warmoth, a Sand Hill properties representative, said there is a greater demand since 2005, possibly connected with recovery from the dot-com bust about five years ago.
"Hotels add a tremendous value to the city," not only bringing in direct tax revenue but also bringing in people who dine out and shop there, said Kenneth Rodrigues, a project planner. The planning commission is not expected to review the hotel design until October, but plans to review designs for the rest of town center in August.
Rodrigues said the Pacific Coast Builders Conference recently named the town center plan the best new site plan of the year.
"We want to build every square foot of retail that we can," said Warmoth, adding that ground-floor spaces designated as retail could become commercial, but Sand Hill cannot lease more than 315,000 square feet of office space so that will not eat into retail.
The commission also required the developers to work to minimize the wooden decks, low bridges and planter boxes in the one-acre central plaza known as Redwood Square after the five mature redwood trees that anchor the space.
"We had constraints that were set to us," said Gary Laymon, the landscape architect, who estimates that the proposed square, surrounded by outdoor restaurant seating, retail, fountains and art, can hold about 900 people. The city wants to open up the plaza with grassy spaces to accommodate crowds, but Laymon said this could be unwise.
"Hyperactivating that space is just not a responsible way to approach it," he told the commission. "We want to keep those trees happy and get people as close to those trees as possible without compromising their integrity."
The square will also include public art, attractive pavers, a performance stage, concession carts and water features.
"One of the things we looked at was ways to incorporate water in to improve the vitality of the square," said Laymon, adding it would produce a quiet and calming sound.
