Criticized for letting their downtown commercial properties sit empty, members of the Altamura family announced a major leasing effort this week for Napa Town Center and holdings on First Street.

With new hotels and commercial projects opening all around them, the Altamuras said they would try to revive Napa Town Center and lease the Gordon and Merrill’s buildings.

The Altamuras have signed with a new Napa-based commercial real estate firm, Strong & Hayden, to find national and regional retailers. Independent stores may also be part of the mix. New signs say 50,000 square feet is available.

The family had tried in recent years to redevelop the eastern half of Napa Town Center with a hotel, then a residential condominium-retail project, George Altamura Jr. said Monday. In today’s ailing economy, such ambitious plans were going nowhere, Altamura said. The times call for a new strategy, he said.

Efforts to sign quality tenants to long-term leases might take a year or two, Altamura said. “The national chains are hurting right now,” he said.

“They have their work cut out for them,” Altamura said of Strong & Hayden’s leasing efforts. “If there’s anyone who can do it, it’s (Strong & Hayden’s) Gary Van Dam.”

Van Dam said the Altamuras willing to upgrade the appearance of Napa Town Center, carve up spaces differently and work with potential tenants on leasing terms and improvements.

The former Merrill’s drug store, an empty 20,000- square-foot space on First Street, is a candidate for razing, while preserving the historic facade, Van Dam said.

‘Great steps’

City officials and merchants applauded the new leasing effort, while expressing caution about the chances for success.

“I’m thrilled they’re marketing their space,” said Ed Gill, a co-owner of Gillwoods, a popular restaurant in Napa Town Center. “They need to get this end leased rather than wait for a prospect to tear it down.”

Kent Gardella, owner of Napa Valley Jewelers, said Napa Town Center had suffered while the Altamuras tried to sell it or find a major redeveloper. “It needs new painting. It needs lots of things,” he said.

Most of the eastern half of the center is either empty or filled with stores on month-to-month leases, which has hurt long-term merchants, Gardella said. If the Altamuras are serious about reviving the center, they need to restore the center’s promotion budget and rejoin the Chefs Market, he said.

“I only believe things when I see them,” said Scott Leonard, owner of Silver Sensations at Napa Town Center.

The Altamuras’ leasing plans could dovetail nicely with the fall reopening of the former Mervyns as a Kohl’s department store, Leonard said.

A 76,000-square-foot Kohl’s is expected to open in October. Although not a part of Napa Town Center, Kohl’s would draw shoppers to the area.

“These are great steps. Let’s see what happens,” said Cassandra Walker, the city’s economic development manager.

In these tough times, quality tenants want landlords to help pay for business improvements, which in the case of a restaurant can hit $2 million, Walker said.

In the past, the Altamuras haven’t been willing to do this, diminishing businesses’ interest in coming downtown, she said.

A new willingness to do long-term leases is “a first step,” Walker said. “George has to take many steps.”

Kate King, CEO of the Napa Chamber of Commerce, said “no one could be happier than the Chamber of Commerce if George is moving forward to fill these spaces appropriately.”

“We’ve been on record for quite some time that we were desirous for George to do something,” King said, speaking of George Altamura Sr. Numerous vacancies in Altamura properties created problems for adjacent retailers, she said.

“I’m thrilled,” said Craig Smith, executive director of the Napa Downtown Association. The new leasing effort “can only help,” he said.

The nation may be in a deep recession, but there are reasons for optimism that Altamura properties can be leased, Matt Connolly of Strong & Hayden said.

A string of major commercial projects, including the Westin and Avia hotels, the Riverfront mixed-use development, the Oxbow Public Market and the offices and restaurants at Napa Square have opened or soon will, Connolly said. Altamura properties sit in the middle of all this.

Downtown Napa “has a good story to tell,” Connolly said. “There are still people who want to grow their business.”

Town Center history

Built in 1987, Napa Town Center was promoted by the city’s redevelopment agency, which helped a private developer assemble the necessary land.

During its heyday in the 1990s, Napa Town Center managed to attract a string of national chains, including the Foot Locker, KB Toys, The Limited, Miller’s Outpost, Waldenbooks and GNC. All but GNC have since departed.

Merrill’s, as well an adjacent former women’s dress shop, has been empty for nearly two decades, well before the Altamuras bought it. The Gordon Building, with 9,000 square feet of first-floor space, recently lost Bookends, Napa Wine Merchant and Napa Net.

George Altamura Sr., in partnership with the Doctors Company, bought Napa Town Center in 2002 for a reported $16.25 million. He also acquired adjacent properties on First and made an unsuccessful bid to buy the Mervyns complex.

In 2004, George Altamura Sr. proposed a six-story, 225-room hotel that would have required the leveling of the eastern half of Napa Town Center and Merrill’s. The plan died when the city balked at turning over full use of the Pearl Street garage to Altamura.

In 2005, the senior Altamura twice nearly sold Napa Town Center for a rumored $40 million, but the deals fell through.

In 2007, he unveiled a five-story retail/condo project with the same footprint as the earlier hotel. City planners said they were interested in the concept, but the project never progressed.

While the Merrill’s building is a candidate for replacement, the Gordon Building is more of a landmark, George Altamura Jr. said. He is in negotiations with a high-end restaurant for the Gordon space facing First Street, he said.

Altamura said that he and his father had tried to redevelop their properties in ways that would benefit downtown, but city hostility to a hotel project and a poor market for mixed-use projects set them back.

“We’re not completely to blame,” he said. At the same time, “We have somewhat given fuel to the fire. I understand that.”

While Strong & Hayden tries to fill up current Altamura properties, the family appears to be on the verge of acquiring yet another, the former Pacific National Bank building, at 1300 First St.

The Altamuras reportedly are in escrow to buy the building, which is surrounded on three sides by Napa Town Center. Altamura Jr. would only confirm “we’re looking at it.”