The Sunnyvale Sun
News
New downtown design draws praise, criticism
By Cody Kraatz
Architectural plans for Sunnyvale Town Center got mixed reviews from Sunnyvale City Council members on July 31, with Target taking compliments and Mathilda Avenue office buildings taking flak. Residents will get to see the designs at an upcoming public meeting.
"I really like the Target and the fact that they're thinking outside the box," said Vice Mayor Tony Spitaleri. Target's design, in a departure from boxier stores, uses aluminum siding and glassed-in red-painted murals popping out from the sides of the 50-foot-tall building. The current store is targeted for demolition after Christmas. The new 188,000-square-foot store, part of 990,000 square feet of retail, theater and restaurants, will be perched above five retailers and a parking garage and could open two years from now.
Council members criticized the entryway off Mathilda Avenue onto McKinley Avenue, which was supposed to have strong corner features as are seen at Santana Row. The office buildings that are supposed to create that entryway took a beating.
"Somebody said this looks like a jail," said Councilman Ron Swegles. Councilwoman Melinda Hamilton was unimpressed, saying they were not unique.
"I wish we were seeing some more historical elements in these designs. I'd like to see a more balanced mixture of the contemporary and the historical," she said. The design for a 200-room hotel is still to come.
Planning staff had a lot of suggestions for the developers, Downtown Sunnyvale Mixed Use LLC, which did not attend this meeting.
"One of the charges we were given is to make it look like a downtown that was developed over time by different hands," said Steve Lynch, Sunnyvale senior planner. Retail spaces throughout the center are designed to have unique facades, though single tenants may span several of these.
"I'm hoping that they've got some good designs, especially with the height of the buildings, so it doesn't look like you have big walls," said Bob Fruehsamer, a Sunnyvale resident, adding, "it's a lot better than what they had there before."
Lynch said that Sand Hill Property Co., the property manager, has announced few new tenants besides the 14-screen Century Theatres.
"They're watching Vallco. They're seeing how successful it is. They're seeing what tenants go in and what tenants are signing leases," he said, referring to Cupertino Square, formerly called Vallco Fashion Park, in Cupertino. "These guys have their radar on 100 percent."
The Sunnyvale Planning Commission will review the designs on Aug. 13, and residents can sneak a peek at an Aug. 9 community meeting.
The city is also developing a plan to place "wayfinding" signs throughout downtown Sunnyvale directing visitors towards parking lots near their destinations.
Town Center Update
The Sun periodically provides updates on the $400 million Town Center redevelopment project headed by Sand Hill Property Co.
*Residents can get a sneak peek at the latest site drawings and the latest updates on construction at a community meeting on Aug. 9 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Sunnyvale Senior Center, 550 E. Remington Drive. For more information, call 408.737.4900 or visit TownCenter.inSunnyvale.com. City staff and the developer will make presentations, followed by a question and answer session.
*Crews started pouring concrete last week for the underground parking garage footings west of Target. More than 2,000 yards of concrete will be used.
*The sewer and storm drain systems on the west side of the project area have been installed.
*Demolition recycling, in which concrete rubble from the demolished mall building is spread as a base for the underground parking garage west of Macy's, is scheduled to be complete within two weeks. Recycling the concrete eliminated an estimated 500 truckloads of base material that would have been brought into the site.
