Burbank Towncenter : Developer Seeks 6-Month Delay in Building Mall

The developer of the proposed Burbank Towncenter, a $158-million shopping mall that has been plagued by delays and financial difficulties, asked Burbank officials Tuesday for another six-month extension in building the mall.

But officials of the development company, Ernest W. Hahn Inc. of San Diego, reaffirmed their commitment to complete the enclosed mall and promised to have it open in March, 1988.

The request for the delay, made at a City Council meeting, provoked Mayor Mary Lou Howard to complain that Burbank residents have been misled about the timing of the city-subsidized project.

“I don’t like this extension, and I would rather not have it,” Howard said. “But what else can we do?”

Council Takes No Action

Although the council took no action on the request, Burbank Redevelopment Director Larry Kosmont said he would recommend that the extension be approved.

In a presentation to the council, John M. Gilchrist, president of Hahn Inc., said the developer needed more time because one of the department stores that will anchor the mall could not be ready by the planned September, 1987, opening date.

Gilchrist said the company could also use the extra time to fine-tune its designs, something requested last month. Kosmont rejected Hahn’s design for the Towncenter, calling it a “fortress-style” building that had no relation to the downtown surrounding it. Kosmont asked for the addition of such features as large windows and an outdoor cafe.

Plans now call for the 790,000-square-foot Towncenter to be built on 29 acres adjacent to the Golden State Freeway and to include four major department stores, more than 150 shops and a publicly financed parking structure.

The latest presentation by Hahn officials came a decade after Hahn first proposed the Towncenter to the city. In 1975, the plans were for a larger, more elaborate shopping center with five major department stores on a 40-acre site.

A plan was agreed to by the city and Hahn in 1979. But it collapsed in 1982, just before the city was about to approve certificates of participation for a parking structure.

Blaming financing difficulties caused by high interest rates and the recession, Hahn pulled out of the project.

Scaled-Down Version

In late 1983, the city entered into a new agreement with Hahn to build a scaled-down version of the shopping center. The developer has agreed to come up with $45 million for construction of the enclosed mall and a J. C. Penney store. The company has also agreed to forfeit a $1-million property payment should it fail to complete the project.

“Hahn really can’t back out, and he’s committed to using his own funds,” Howard said. “But I’ve always had reservations about his performing what he said he would do. Burbank is not his top priority. If Burbank was as important to him as it is to us, he never would have pulled out.”

Kosmont said Hahn has already invested about $4 million in the mall, while Burbank has spent about $75 million to acquire land for it, demolish buildings on the site, relocate tenants and finance bonds.