By Linda Taaffe

Long-term leases could stall city aspirations

lans to develop the city-owned property at the corner of Main and First streets into a western gateway to downtown Los Altos could be put on hold for seven years if the current tenants decide to stay put until their leases expire.

The Los Altos City Council began negotiating with Nielsen’s Martinizing Dry Cleaning - located in the building at 230 First St. - earlier this month to get a jump-start on developing the site, according to Mayor John Moss. The other tenant’s lease, The Home Consignment Center, is tied to the dry cleaner’s lease, Moss said.

Nielsen’s owner Jin Lee, said he intends to renew his lease for another five years next June. This means his business would operate at the city site until 2006.

Johnny Crowell, owner of the Home Consignment Center that leases the 6,375-square-foot-building on the site located at 400 Main St., said “We intend on staying there the full term of the lease. When the city solicited us to that location, we fully expected to live up to the lease and never expected the city to negotiate (alternatives for the site) without us. We made a substantial investment … We’re happy with the location and fully intend to stay.”

Crowell said the city last week had not yet contacted him about any possible negotiations.

This is not the first time the city has talked about developing the site. The city first started exploring other options for the site last year and put out a Request for Proposals for developers to see if there was an interest in the site, Moss said. He said the city could not afford to develop the site on its own.

Moss said the city received eight proposals last year, including a hotel, movie theater, retail and office space and one from the consignment center and the dry cleaners. Most proposals included some underground parking, he said. The city has yet to make public if it plans to move forward with any of those proposals.

“None (of the proposals) were perfect but they clearly showed that there are private developers with projects that would complement downtown businesses and add public parking,” Moss said.

In 1995, the city bought the land, which currently houses the consignment center, the dry cleaners and a 55-space parking lot, with the long-term goal of improving the appearance of Main Street’s west entrance and to create more downtown parking. Shortly after the purchase, the city entered into a lease with the dry cleaners for five years, with an option to renew for another five years.

If they choose to renew, the city property would be unavailable for development for another seven years.

“That is a long time to wait when parking is so desperately needed now,” Moss said. “It is the hope of all the council members that we can find a way to do something more with that site in less than 7-8 years.”

Crowell said he told the city staff a year ago that he was willing to work with them to develop the site into a gateway as long as the project included a space for his consignment center. Crowell said he has not since heard from the city.

Crowell said he is willing to work with city to develop the site into a gateway as long as the project includes his consignment center.