The city of Sunnyvale announced Nov. 20 that it has received notice from Wells Fargo Bank, the current owner of the Sunnyvale Town Center, that the bank plans to sell the entire project to a proposed joint venture made up of Sares Regis Group of Northern California, Hunter Properties, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
“The community has long awaited meaningful progress on the Town Center project, and this notice is a key milestone that definitely moves us in that direction,” Sunnyvale city manager Deanna Santana said in a Nov. 20 news release. “Sunnyvale’s downtown is already a thriving and highly desirable location in Silicon Valley. We will continue to position the city to realize the downtown’s full potential.”
In August, the long-stalled project finally got untangled from a web of lawsuits and appeals that halted much of its development over the last few years. An announcement came Aug. 12 that the California Supreme Court denied review of the third and final case involving the downtown center.
The legal ruling paved the way for Wells Fargo Bank, which took over ownership of the property after the original owners Peter Pau and RREEF defaulted on a loan, to begin searching for interested buyers who want to complete the project.
The 36-acre property is located in downtown Sunnyvale and is bordered by Mathilda, Washington, Sunnyvale and Iowa avenues. In 2007 it was bought and developed by a joint venture between Pau’s Sand Hill Property Co. and RREEF, but the companies were forced to abandon the project in 2009 after they defaulted on a $108.8 million loan from Wells Fargo.
Wells Fargo’s proposed sale now triggers a review process by the city, which will evaluate the proposed team against criteria outlined in an existing development agreement between Wells Fargo and the former Redevelopment Agency.
The Sunnyvale council is scheduled to review the evaluation findings on Dec. 10, when it will either “acknowledge or challenge” whether the proposed team meets the criteria. The council, in its role as successor agency to the RDA, will review the proposed new ownership team’s development experience, financial capacity and reputation, according to the Nov. 20 release.
Despite all the legal challenges with the Town Center, there is new life in the city’s downtown. New or relocated businesses such as Kabul Afghan Cuisine, Philz Coffee and Prolific Oven Bakery and Café have recently opened, according to the city.
