PROGRESS SEEN ON TOWN CENTER REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT
SUNNYVALE, Calif. – With the sale of the Sunnyvale Town Center redevelopment project expected to soon take place, RREEF and Sand Hill Properties, the new development team, has wasted no time in getting the project restarted.
Sunnyvale City Council approved the sale by Fourth Quarter Properties to the new development team at Council’s February 6 meeting, signaling a reinvigoration of the stalled project. RREEF and Sand Hill Properties have participated in several community meetings to explain their project and answer questions about their companies.
The plan, which was originally approved three years ago, called for a total of about 1 million square feet of retail space, including the existing Target and Macy’s stores, more than a quarter-million square feet of commercial office space and 292 ownership homes. With changes in the marketplace, RREEF and Sand Hill Properties have determined the mix of elements should be modified from the original plan. Among the key elements they would like to change are the addition of a hotel with up to 200 rooms, addition of a grocery store, up to 40,000 square feet of new office space and a reduction by some 30,000 square feet in the amount of retail space. Target, which owns their own store on the southern side of the project, has announced they would like to tear down their existing store and build a new, larger store on the same site. The new store would follow Target’s current store design on a single-floor model placed over parking.
Since some of these changes would require a change in the City’s General Plan, RREEF and Sand Hill requested Council’s permission to submit a General Plan change. Council granted permission for the submittal and the requested change to the General Plan is tentatively scheduled to be reviewed by the Planning Commission April 16, prior to Council’s review which is now tentatively scheduled for May 1. The City has determined that a new environmental impact report will not be needed for the modified plan, which has the effect of speeding up the approval process.
Under the proposed modified plan, the hotel would be built at the northeast corner of Murphy Avenue – once it is extended through the project area – and McKinley Avenue. The hotel would be on the second through fifth floors, with the lobby entrance at ground level. The proposed grocery store would be located on Mathilda Avenue, south of McKinley.
While RREEF and Sand Hill Properties have been working on their modified plans, they have moved quickly to take care of other projects requirements. Both the utility plan and the final map application have been submitted to the City, and the architectural and landscaping plans are expected to be submitted soon for the first phase of construction. The first phase includes the area between Mathilda Avenue and the mall structure, and between Washington and Iowa Avenues. RREEF and Sand Hill have not yet acquired the property from Fourth Quarter; but the land sale is expected to close soon. Once RREEF and Sand Hill own the property, the demolition of the old mall structure will begin, leaving both Macy’s and Target standing and open for business. The new developer will begin excavating for underground parking along Mathilda and trenching for the installation of on-site utilities at the same time demolition takes place.
More information and frequent updates on the Sunnyvale Town Center redevelopment project are posted on the City’s Web at downtown.inSunnyvale.com.