Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer

Scenes From a Shopping Center: Owners and managers at the Willow Glen Shopping Center say ongoing construction is driving away business. Tenants say they plan to ask their landlord for help in dealing with the situation.




Tenants say delays hurting business

Shopping center says the construction will be completed soon

By Kate Carter

Store owners at the Willow Glen Shopping Center are getting tired of the construction mess out front, and in a meeting last week some decided to approach their landlord for "a little help."

Fontanetti Athletic owner Jerry Fontanetti says about seven business owners met on Jan. 18, to discuss the toll the construction is taking on their bottom lines. The outcome of the meeting, he says, was that they would ask the center's owner, Joe Kovalik, for a 20 percent reduction in rent during the construction period.

"We're going to try to be nice about it," Fontanetti says of their request, which he adds should have been made before the construction even began. "It looks like a lumber yard out front."

But Kovalik says the renovation is the only way the center on the corner of Almaden Road and Curtner Avenue can transition into the upgraded Willow Glen Plaza with facade improvements and new chain stores.

Fontanetti adds that if Kovalik isn't flexible with the stores, they could refuse to pay rent, at all.

And Tom Malech, owner of the San Jose Fly Shop, who says he attended the meeting during the last five minutes, says some owners mentioned threatening to move out. Malech, who says he hasn't been suffering as much as other stores, doesn't think such drastic measures will be effective because, when the center is improved, Kovalik will have no problem finding new tenants.

"He's holding all the big cards right now," Malech says.

Tina's Restaurant owner Roula Tsagaris says the patio and other improvements being made to her site should have been done by now.

"Honestly, I don't think they'll be done this month. It's really quite upsetting."

The construction on the center began in the fall and was scheduled for completion in April, May at the latest, says owner Joe Kovalik. "The project is coming along," he says. "You should start seeing quite a bit shortly."But Kovalik admits there have been some delays, and he knows that business owners are frustrated.

"They were frustrated from day one," he says. "The city's changed a couple things on us. We're still on track to open in April."

A new building that will house a Hollywood Video was done by Jan. 1, he says, although the store hasn't moved in yet. Work on the center will continue in phases: the south side of Safeway is being worked on now, and work on the northern section will begin in the coming weeks, he says.

Tsagaris says construction delays have kept even her regular customers from coming to eat, not to mention those who think her restaurant is closed because of the chain-link fences and dug-up concrete out front.

To make matters worse, concrete poured in front of her entrance was measured incorrectly and needs to be taken out and repoured, she and Kovalik both said.

"That stuff happens all the time," Kovalik added.

Other business owners are being affected, too. Fontanetti agrees that the work is going too slowly. Healso says that the 10 percent increase in his business he's been told to expect won't cover the increased rent he has to pay.

Richard Eid, manager of B and J Service Center, says business there is down at least 30 percent. But he hopes the new chain stores will attract more customers to the center and make up the loss.

Kovalik says he hopes to be able to announce the names of the center's other new corporate tenants in the next few weeks, after lease agreements have been finalized.

Meanwhile, the work goes on.The city's office of economic development identified the shopping center as one that could benefit from some aesthetic improvements a few years ago. The city's interest in the project made getting approvals and permits a little easier for Kovalik, but he has still had to make some last-minute accommodations for water to drain into a sump below the surface of the parking lot.

Other changes in lighting fixtures have also delayed work. And with rain, there's not much the crews can do but wait for it to stop.

Although Kovalik and some store owners say the center's facelift was past due, Fontanetti thinks things would have been fine left the way they were.

"The city was pushing them into it," he says. "I don't think it was that necessary. But it will make the area a lot nicer."

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