$100k study on how to fill downtown storefronts

By KEVIN COURTNEY
Register Staff Writer

Alarmed by the amount of vacant retail and office space in downtown, the city of Napa will spend nearly $100,000 to have a consultant put together a marketing and leasing strategy.

The Napa City Council on Tuesday committed funds from downtown property taxes to come up with a plan for filling 105,000 square feet of new commercial space and another 76,000 square feet in older buildings that sit empty.

Napa is hiring Economic Development Systems of Redondo Beach to analyze the shopping needs of locals and tourists, then map out ways of enticing regional and national chains to come downtown.

Filling vacant storefronts can’t wait until early 2011, when the city completes a Downtown Specific Plan that lays out long-term development plans for downtown, said Cassandra Walker, the city’s deputy redevelopment director.

Downtown has plenty of restaurants, but lacks the diversity and concentration of stores needed to make it thrive, Walker said.

There are major pockets of empty stores along First Street and in Napa Town Center, not to mention newly constructed commercial space at the Riverfront on Main Street, she said.

The 181,000 square feet of empty commercial space cited by Walker is nearly 10 percent of the greater downtown total, said Robin Klingbeil, a redevelopment analyst.

Frustration over empty stores on Main Street and in Napa Town Center bubbled over this spring and summer at public forums on the Downtown Specific Plan.

On Tuesday night, council members said much of the ire was directed at George Altamura, downtown’s biggest property owner who has let stores in Napa Town Center and on Main Street sit vacant while trying to attract a major redeveloper.

Walker said she had recently met with the Altamura family and other major downtown property owners. They all supported city efforts to come up with a marketing plan to attract tenants, she said.

Two weeks ago, the Altamura family announced that it was abandoning its strategy to combine many of its holdings into large multi-use projects. Such plans don’t work in today’s ailing economy, they said.

The Altamuras said they had retained a new commercial real estate firm, Strong and Hayden, and are committed to leasing stores to quality tenants. Strong and Hayden signs offer 50,000 square feet for lease.

Mayor Jill Techel said she had met last week with George Altamura Jr. and representatives of The Doctors Company, which co-owns Napa Town Center with the Altamuras.

She shared resident and merchant concerns about the drag that vacant spaces have on the health of downtown, Techel said Wednesday. She was assured that the Napa Town Center ownership is serious about its new leasing efforts, she said.

Economic Development Systems has proven contacts with major retailers, Walker said. These relationships may help the city overcome today’s poor retail climate in which most chain stores are freezing or cutting back on expansion plans, she said.

Retailers may begin to add stores by the end of the year and into 2010, which is when the new consultants should be ready to begin outreach efforts, Walker said.

If Economic Development Systems is moderately successful, the city should recoup its contract costs, Walker said. If the city could fill 55,000 square feet — about a quarter of existing vacancies — the increase in sales tax revenues would be about $91,000 annually, she said.

Economic Development Systems has experience with cities that depend on both local and visitor shoppers, Walker said. She provided testimonials from city officials in Pasadena, Long Beach and San Jose.

Because this marketing study is being paid for by downtown redevelopment money, the project can  be directed only at downtown, Walker said.

But the rest of the city’s shopping areas should benefit, Walker said. Retailers who don’t find what they want downtown will be directed to other retail zones.

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