AN ADVISORY SERVICES PANEL REPORT Downtown San Jose, California Urban Land $ Institute Downtown San Jose, California Enriching the Quality of Retail Revitalization June 4–9, 2000 An Advisory Services Panel Report ULI–the Urban Land Institute 1025 Thomas Jefferson Street, N.W. Suite 500 West Washington, D.C. 20007-5201 About ULI–the Urban Land Institute LI–the Urban Land Institute is a non- sented include developers, builders, property profit research and education organiza- owners, investors, architects, public officials, plan- tion that promotes responsible leadership ners, real estate brokers, appraisers, attorneys, U in the use of land in order to enhance engineers, financiers, academicians, students, and the total environment. librarians. ULI relies heavily on the experience of its members. It is through member involvement The Institute maintains a membership represent- and information resources that ULI has been able ing a broad spectrum of interests and sponsors a to set standards of excellence in development wide variety of educational programs and forums practice. The Institute has long been recognized to encourage an open exchange of ideas and shar- as one of America’s most respected and widely ing of experience. ULI initiates research that quoted sources of objective information on urban anticipates emerging land use trends and issues planning, growth, and development. and proposes creative solutions based on that research; provides advisory services; and publish- This Advisory Services panel report is intended es a wide variety of materials to disseminate to further the objectives of the Institute and to information on land use and development. make authoritative information generally avail- able to those seeking knowledge in the field of Established in 1936, the Institute today has some urban land use. 16,000 members and associates from 60 countries, representing the entire spectrum of the land use Richard M. Rosan and development disciplines. Professionals repre- President ©2001 by ULI–the Urban Land Institute 1025 Thomas Jefferson Street, N.W. Suite 500 West Washington, D.C. 20007-5201 All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission of the copy- right holder is prohibited. ULI Catalog Number: ASS021 2 An Advisory Services Panel Report About ULI Advisory Services he goal of ULI’s Advisory Services Program holders in the project under consideration, partic- is to bring the finest expertise in the real ipants in ULI’s five-day panel assignments are estate field to bear on complex land use plan- able to make accurate assessments of a sponsor’s T ning and development projects, programs, issues and to provide recommendations in a com- and policies. Since 1947, this program has assem- pressed amount of time. bled well over 400 ULI-member teams to help sponsors find creative, practical solutions for A major strength of the program is ULI’s unique issues such as downtown redevelopment, land ability to draw on the knowledge and expertise of management strategies, evaluation of develop- its members, including land developers and own- ment potential, growth management, community ers, public officials, academicians, representatives revitalization, brownfields redevelopment, mili- of financial institutions, and others. In fulfillment tary base reuse, provision of low-cost and afford- of the mission of the Urban Land Institute, this able housing, and asset management strategies, Advisory Services panel report is intended to pro- among other matters. A wide variety of public, vide objective advice that will promote the re- private, and nonprofit organizations have contract- sponsible use of land to enhance our environment. ed for ULI’s Advisory Services. Each panel team is composed of highly qualified ULI Project Staff professionals who volunteer their time to ULI. Rachelle L. Levitt They are chosen for their knowledge of the panel Senior Vice President, Policy and Practice topic and screened to ensure their objectivity. ULI panel teams are interdisciplinary and typi- Mary Beth Corrigan cally include several developers, a landscape Managing Director, Advisory Services architect, a planner, a market analyst, a finance Geoffrey Booth expert, and others with the niche expertise need- Senior Director, Retail Development ed to address a given project. ULI teams provide a holistic look at development problems. Each Nancy H. Stewart panel is chaired by a respected ULI member with Director, Book Program previous panel experience. Julie D. Stern The agenda for a five-day panel assignment is in- Manuscript Editor tensive. It includes an in-depth briefing day com- Betsy Van Buskirk posed of a tour of the site and meetings with spon- Art Director sor representatives; a day and a half of hour-long interviews of typically 80 to 100 key community Martha Loomis representatives; and a day and a half of formulat- Desktop Publishing Specialist/Graphics ing recommendations. Many long nights of discus- Kim Rusch sion precede the panel’s conclusions. On the final Graphics day on site, the panel makes an oral presentation of its findings and conclusions to the sponsor. At Diann Stanley Austin the request of the sponsor, a written report is Director, Publishing Operations prepared and published. Because the sponsoring entities are responsible for significant preparation before the panel’s visit, including sending extensive briefing materials to each member and arranging for the panel to meet with key local community members and stake- San Jose, California, June 4–9, 2000 3 Acknowledgments oth personally and on behalf of ULI–the Peggy Flynn; Communications Assistant Paul Urban Land Institute, the panel members Asper; and Secretary Shirley Rodriquez. Kline and staff would like to thank San Jose organized the panel’s program, conducted the site B Mayor Ron Gonzales and Executive Direc- tour, and set up 162 interviews with business and tor Susan F. Shick of the Redevelopment Agency community leaders. Kline, Little, Schutz, and of the City of San Jose for inviting ULI to under- Asper all worked above and beyond the call of take this panel assignment. The panel also thanks duty to ensure that the panel had all the informa- San Jose City Manager Del Borgsdorf and his tion it required and rendered every possible assis- staff for their strong support and valuable advice. tance, with great efficiency and good cheer, in demanding time frames. Special thanks goes to the staff of the Redevelop- ment Agency of the City of San Jose for prepar- The panel interviewed more than 160 government ing the excellent panel briefing book. In particular, officials, community leaders, businesspeople, and the panel would like to express its appreciation other citizens, and is indebted to all of them for to the following members of the redevelopment taking time out of their busy schedules to share agency staff: Deputy Executive Director Harry with the panel their views and aspirations for Mavrogenes; Director Leslie A. Little, Downtown downtown San Jose. Their participation enabled Management Division; Program Coordinator Jim the panel to make recommendations based on a Schutz; Senior Development Officer Kelly Kline; broad range of balanced and timely information. GIS Specialist Dawn Aiu; Communications Officer 4 An Advisory Services Panel Report Contents ULI Panel and Project Staff 6 Foreword: The Panel’s Assignment 7 Overview and Summary of Recommendations 8 Market Potential 10 Planning and Design 17 Development Strategies 26 Implementation 33 Conclusion 40 About the Panel 41 San Jose, California, June 4–9, 2000 5 ULI Panel and Project Staff Panel Chair ULI Project Director John H. Alschuler, Jr. Geoffrey Booth President Senior Director, Retail Development Hamilton, Rabinovitz & Alschuler, Inc. New York, New York ULI On-Site Coordinators Panel Members Carlotta Farmer Manager, Meeting and Events M. J. “Jay” Brodie President Rina Agriss City of Baltimore Development Corporation Consultant Baltimore, Maryland Charleston, South Carolina Susan Campbell Vice President and Partner Campbell Tiu Campbell, Inc. Chicago, Illinois Barry Elbasani Principal ELS Elbasani & Logan Architects Berkeley, California Charles Long Fieldman, Rolapp & Associates Reno, Nevada Marilee A. Utter President Citiventure Associates, L.L.C. Denver, Colorado 6 An Advisory Services Panel Report Foreword: The Panel’s Assignment he Redevelopment Agency of the City of • How this strategy can best incorporate the his- San Jose asked the panel to help it enrich toric district along First and Second streets; the focus, quality, and effective implementa- T tion of its downtown retail revitalization • The amenities needed to support and enhance program. This program includes the downtown the retail environment; retail strategy currently being prepared by the • How to prepare and adopt a marketing plan for agency’s consultant team. the retail strategy that enlists the support of The panel was asked to identify: downtown residents, employees, convention attendees, and tourists; and, • The most appropriate market niches, retail themes, and target markets for the downtown • The appropriate role of the agency and the pri- to serve; vate sector in implementing the retail strategy. • How to create storefront continuity, critical retail mass, a strong reputation that is attrac- SONOMA 505 Location map. NAPA Arden-Arcade 80 tive to good credit retail tenants, a top-quality 101 Santa Rosa Sacramento SACRAMENTO Napa AMADOR built environment, an ample supply of park-