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The footprint of the ambitious Santana Row-esque development under way at the now mostly flattened San Antonio Shopping Center is on track to grow even larger.
Merlone Geier Partners, the group transforming the shopping center at Los Altos’ border on the corner of San Antonio Road and El Camino Real into a mixed-use residential/retail project with a 65,000-square-foot Safeway, entered a contract to purchase 3.6 additional acres of the center in November. The acquisition includes the property currently leased by Ross and BevMo, according to Merlone Geier Vice President Mike Grehl.
But how the newly acquired property is redeveloped alongside the 350 residential units and additional 88,000 square feet of retail space in The Village at San Antonio Center has yet to be determined, Grehl said.
“We’re just investigating the potential to incorporate that land area into the overall development and potentially make some changes,” he said. “There’s definitely going to be more retail involved. There’s a possibility of more residential being incorporated.”
Any proposal requires city approval via public hearings before it moves forward.
The Mountain View City Council unanimously approved the current revamp June 14 after the developer presented several revisions. While the project will offer more shopping options for nearby Los Altos residents, Los Altos officials have been keeping a close eye on possible financial impacts on Los Altos’ retail districts.
Merlone Geier hasn’t indicated which retail tenants will land at The Village at San Antonio Center, but Grehl said they would include boutique stores as well as big-box retailers.
Mountain View City Councilman Jac Siegel told the Town Crier in August that the project could hurt downtown Los Altos, but Grehl suggested the project is “entirely different” from downtown and the two probably wouldn’t compete for business.
The $180 million project is scheduled for completion in mid-2013.
