Stop, Drop and Roll

13 November 2007 | Alameda City Council, Alameda Community Development Forum | John Knox White

The planning of Towne Centre returns tonight to Mastick Senior Center. (Would that be the Bride of planning of Towne Centre or Son of planning of Towne Centre). There’s a special meeting of the Planning Board (special because it’s on Tuesday, as yesterday was a holiday). 

The meat of the meeting will be a workshop to discuss plans for Towne Centre (Drawings here). Harsch Development, owner of Towne Centre, is seeking the to increase the amount of retail space by 22,600 sq. ft (26,000 less than their last request during the Target discussions). The changes proposed are (emphasis added):

• Building 1000 [Former Safeway] will not be increased to accommodate Target. Building 1000 will be retained at its current size which is approximately 37,230 square feet. (The 2003 Approval authorized Building 1000 to expand to approximately 66,700 square feet.) The parking area in Lot 10 will be reconfigured to provide a more efficient parking layout and to meet applicable code requirements. A pedestrian connection is also proposed from Building 1000 to Buildings 800 and 900.
• Buildings 1100 [Alta Bates] and 1200 [South Shore Café] will be retained. The 2005 Application showed that these buildings would be removed and replaced with a smaller building.
• The parking garage remains as proposed in the 2005 Application but the aisles have been turned for a north/south orientation that is more pedestrian friendly.
• A second story is proposed for Building 900 (Mervyn’s) which will increase the GLA by 73,412 square feet. The height of this building will be consistent with Trader Joe’s.

This is a workshop, so the Planning Board is not being asked to approve or deny anything, just give input, along with the input from community members. For those who have feelings about what they’d like to see at Towne Centre (design-wise, not specific stores) tonight is the night. Get your input in early.

I’ll just say that it’s nice to see the pedestrian improvements that have been discussed remaining in the plans, and some new ones, that are consistent with community input, being added.

Meeting at 7:00pm – Mastick Senior Center - Tonight