Title
Informational report regarding Chief Planner Design Review approval to allow exterior modifications of the Safeway Shopping Center at 180 El Camino Real Avenue (Billy Gross, Senior Planner)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Planning Commission review the information in this staff report. This is an information item only. There are no actions for consideration at this time.
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BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
Site History
The project site is a 14.5 acre lot with frontages on El Camino Real and South Spruce Avenue. The existing shopping center on the site was constructed in 1965, and the most recent tenants included Safeway, Bally's Total Fitness, CVS, and Bedroom Express.
The site is bordered by commercial uses to the south, Brentwood Shopping Center and single-family residential to the west across El Camino Real, See's Candies and single-family residential to the north across South Spruce Avenue, and office and other general commercial uses to the east across Huntington Avenue. The subject site does not extend all the way to Huntington Avenue - there is a surface parking lot, a dental office and a Salvation Army building abutting the eastern edge of the property.
In March of 2014, the City Council approved a Development Agreement and related planning approvals to allow the construction of a mixed-use project including approximately 222,000 square feet of commercial space, up to 284 residential units, a parking structure and surface parking, and other on- and off-site improvements to replace the existing shopping center. Subsequent to this approval, the Council also approved two amendments to the Development Agreement, primarily to extend the deadline to start construction of Phase 1 of the project. However, the project applicant ultimately determined that the residential portion of the project was economically infeasible, and on June 21, 2017, submitted a letter requesting termination of the Development Agreement.
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