Hundreds of townhouses and apartments, a couple of hotels, a convalescent home, a town square and a small park would mix with stores and shops at the renovated Cambrian Park Plaza shopping center, according to recently unveiled preliminary design plans.
Weingarten Realty’s designs depict a modern urban village, which the developer said reflect changes from the original plan to incorporate community feedback. Weingarten initially wanted to revamp the retro retail plaza just for commercial use and then announced last year it would add housing.
After several community meetings and an online survey of more than 1,300 people, Weingarten revealed its latest iteration last week for the 17-acre site at the corner of Camden and Union avenues.
Several renderings show sleek, contemporary structures in cool neutral tones with minimalist elements and floor-to-ceiling windows. Abstract metal sculptures and twinkling string lights would decorate an outdoor seating area.
Local architecture firm Kenneth Rodrigues and Partners drew inspiration from such places as downtown Los Gatos and Campbell and Cupertino’s Main Street, according to Weingarten, which paid $49 million for the property more than two years ago.
“Weingarten worked hard to improve the village plan to address all of the feedback,” company spokeswoman Carrie Murray said in an email.
The iconic carousel sign that has greeted shoppers for more than 60 years would be relocated to the one-acre park planned for the edge of the property along southbound Union. The county declared the carousel a historic landmark earlier this year after the community rallied to save it.
Although residents may be pleased with the park and town square they had asked for, those who didn’t want their privacy invaded likely won’t embrace the proposed six-story hotels, one with 140 rooms and the other with 98.
The plans also show an additional 22,000 square feet for retail and entertainment, bringing the total space for that to 109,000 square feet.
The number of townhouses and apartments meanwhile grew from 220 to 344, “to better respond to the need for housing in the community as well,” Weingarten said in a statement. The developer also intends to “make a considerable contribution to affordable housing,” but did not elaborate.
Councilman Don Rocha, who represents the Cambrian Park neighborhood, said Weingarten has “made progress for a good site with a good mix of uses.
“I very much appreciate the open space for the public park and town square concept they have included in the plan,” Rocha said, adding that he did have one issue with those areas, however.
“I had envisioned a larger town square more located in the center of the development rather than the open space dedication more to the further reaches of the site,” he said.
Although some residents had expressed a desire for plentfiul parking, Weingarten says it had to sacrifice a number of slots to provide more open space and create pedestrian walkways .
“My question is, where’s the parking for the hotel?” said resident Jerry Woodworth. “If there’s no parking, I’m not coming anymore.”
Murray said there will be more than 1,300 spaces across the entire site. “Parking spaces for the hotels, assisted living and apartments are below the buildings and meet all city parking requirements. This creates the opportunity for more community space like the town square.”
She added that the retail portion will offer “over 10 percent more parking than the city requirement with surface parking.”
Traffic studies will be conducted as part of the city’s review process over the next year but Murray said that “by mixing uses in the pedestrian friendly village, many people can walk rather than drive, significantly reducing trips in the neighborhood.
“We have also scaled the village’s size to help avoid any new significant traffic challenges in the area,” she added.
The layout looks “squished,” Woodworth said, adding that the planned 100,000-square-foot convalescent home doesn’t belong on the site. He suggested it switch places with the park so it’s closer to the property’s edge.
Heartbeat Cafe owner Jolanta Kobylinski echoed Woodworth’s concerns about parking and questioned whether the hotels are a good idea.
“The plans look nice, I’m just not sure about the hotels,” Kobylinski said. “From my perspective, it would be great but I have a feeling the neighbors might not like it.
“What I hear from my customers, I come to the conclusion they don’t want multiple stories. They’d rather keep it one, two stories tops,” she added.
Kobylinski said she is “just enjoying every moment we have” until the wrecking ball finally comes, likely at least a couple of years away.
Urban Village Farmers Market executive director Ron Pardini confirmed the plaza’s seasonal farmers market will return next year but noted he hasn’t heard yet from Weingarten about continuing after redevelopment.
“We look forward to hosting your farmers market next year,” Pardini said. “It looks like we’ll be out there next year.”
Weingarten is planning another community meeting next month. That meeting date has not been announced yet.
Site plans, renderings and other information are available at cambrianparkplazashoppingcenter.com.
