The saga that is San Rafael and Target continues, as the Los Angeles-based consulting firm AECOM has been hired to complete a study on how the proposed store at 125 Shoreline Parkway might have “community impact.”
Plans for the 137,000-square-foot store have been kicked around in one form or another for at least three years. At one time, Minneapolis-based Target was quite taken with putting a store in San Rafael, but then the economy went south and so did the retailer’s enthusiasm.
The latest incarnation has garnered much in the way of attention from the community—not all of it positive. While Cal-Pox Inc., the San Rafael company that owns the land on which the store would be built, did its best to build public support for the project, it still ran into stiff opposition. Everybody from the San Anselmo Chamber of Commerce to United Markets lined up against it. Several public meetings held by the city regarding the project were packed, and debate was long and loud. Proponents of the store pointed to job creation and an added sales tax base, while critics questioned the impact on other businesses and as well as traffic concerns.
While San Rafael is one of the more business-savvy cities in the North Bay, its city council is also smart enough to know when to take a strategic step back. The council ordered the study and hired AECOM to gauge the impact of Target on local jobs and retailers, and to measure just what the new store would add to the city coffers.
The fight over Target has blossomed into a brawl, with both sides pleading their case online. The opponents are trolling for support on a Facebook page called Target in San Rafael Heck NO. Target and Cal-POX look for love at Targetsanrafael.com.
Mill Valley City Council: just say no
Nothing garners the attention of elected officials in Marin quite like downtowns. If they aren’t trying to fix it or tweak it (hello Novato and Tiburon), they’re trying to protect it, which is where Mill Valley comes in. Alain Pinel, the residential real estate brokerage that ran a raid last year on Pacific Union by hiring 60 of its agents, wants to open an office in downtown Mill Valley. But the city council, on a 3-2 vote, decided not to sign off on a permit the realtor would need for a downtown office. The council, after listening to input from downtown merchants and residents, told Pinel it’s a no-go.
The businesses and residents argued that the office would eat up valuable ground floor space and contribute little foot traffic for other shops and stores.
Pinel management may reconfigure the space in the building, which is at 32 Miller Avenue. Office use larger than 1,500 square feet requires a special permit issued by the city council. The space that Pinel wants to lease is 1,807 square feet. If it knocks 308 feet off the total, the city council wouldn’t have a say.
The space has been vacant for three years. The property owner must love the cat and mouse game going on.
A tip of the pen to Union Bank, kinda
Never let it be said that Only in Marin isn’t fair. Last year, when Tamalpais Bank failed, Union Bank bought many of its assets including its bank branches. Following the acquisition, Union said it intended to become involved with the community and to financially support nonprofits, just as Tam had done in the past. More than a few nonprofits wondered if Union was giving lip service to Tam’s pledge. And this column wrote about those concerns.
Union recently opened a Mill Valley branch and took the opportunity to donate $1,000 to Marine Mammal Center and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Marin and Southern Sonoma Counties, and that was a nice thing to do. The news that Union Bank is donating $100,000 to the housing trust is even better, and the bank is to be commended for following through on its pledge to honor Tam’s traditions of community involvement.
Why Union only wrote a check for $100,000 when Tam was in for $250,000 is a bit of mystery. It’s even more perplexing when you consider that Union is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, one of the largest financial organizations in the world. Union’s end-of-the-year numbers were impressive, posting $573 million in net revenues, much better, than the 2009 total of a net loss of $65 million.
Clearly, Mitsubishi and, for that matter, Union, has more assets than Tam ever had, and the ability to pony up the full $250,000 without a strain.
Oh well, baby steps.
This and that
Colorado-based sporting goods retailer, Sports Authority, plans on opening a new, upscale sportswear store at the Town Center in Corte Madera in May. The new store will be called S.A. Elite and focus on high-end clothing and big-time brands like Nike, as well as hard-to-find, imported skiwear. The company opened two S.A. Elite stores in Denver last year.
Sutter Health and Marin General Hospital have been told by Marin Superior Court Judge Verna Adams that the pair is destined to go to arbitration. The $120 million lawsuit MGH brought against Sutter alleges that Sutter cleaned out the till before turning the hospital over to MGH. The Greenbrae hospital promises to appeal.
The Golden Gate Bridge District, splashing about in an $89 million pool of red ink, has elected to eliminate its toll takers in a bid to save $16 million through 2020. The move will put 32 toll takers on the street by September 2012. The departing employees will be replaced by electronic toll readers using FasTrak technology, which is already being used to a degree. It’s ironic that the toll takers are being shown the door, since the bridge district has always claimed its staff was the most polite and beloved of all the bridge tenders in the Bay Area.
Bill Meagher is a contributing editor at NorthBay biz. He believes that sex sells, speed kills, and Marin takes itself way too seriously. You can reach him at bmeagher@northbaybiz.com.
