Monday, January 28, 2008

4th Street, Berkeley and Santana Row, San Jose

Because the discussion last Thursday focused so heavily on the developments at Fourth Street in Berkeley and at Santana Row in San Jose, I thought that I would include information this week so that those unfamiliar with these developments could join the conversation.

Fourth Street is approximately two blocks of development in the formerly industrial and martime center of Berkeley. Fourth Street itself is accessible from the end of University Avenue by turning right just before University rises to pass above the train tracks. The surrounding land is still industrial although now there are many art studios in the nearby warehouses. Truitt White Lumber is just west of the development and attracts day laborers to the streets looking for temporary work in construction. The San Francisco Chronicle's impressions and suggestions for the area in terms of shopping and dining can be viewed here: http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/eastbay/neighborhoods/fourth.shtml

The development's website (Abrams/Milliken and Drew Properties), including advertisement and some history is here: http://www.fourthstreet.com/index.html

Santana Row: "Our mission is to create urban spaces that are not just shopping centers, but dynamic, people- and pedestrian-oriented places that everyone can look forward to visiting again and again." To accomplish this, the developers at Santana Row have created a space with "70 shops, 20 restaurants, 5 spas" according to their website. Hotels and residential units are also incorporated in the property. The property covers 558,000 square feet, please see http://www.federalrealty.com/pdf/site_plan_80.pdf for a graphic of planning information for the site. Leasing is handled by the Federal Realty Investment Trust which also manages properties such as the Third street Promenade in Santa Monica, and the Westgate Mall in San Jose (http://www.federalrealty.com/broker_leasing/?state=California).

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