Developer in Default : Burbank Council Kills Towncenter

The proposed Burbank Towncenter, a redevelopment project plagued by delays and setbacks since it was planned more than a decade ago, was formally pronounced dead by the Burbank City Council Tuesday.

The council, acting as the city’s redevelopment agency, found developer Ernest W. Hahn Inc. in default of its agreement to produce the shopping center for the city. Council members said the project was doomed by Hahn’s inability to find a fourth department store to anchor the mall after Robinson’s withdrew from the project last August.

Representatives of the three remaining department stores--The Broadway, Nordstrom and J. C. Penney--previously said their commitment to the $158-million project was contingent on having a fourth anchor store.

Council members said they still hope to find a developer to put together some kind of shopping center or a similar project on the 30-acre site that Burbank officials have long hoped will be the centerpiece of downtown redevelopment.

Development of the city-owned property was authorized 17 years ago, and Hahn created the Towncenter proposal in 1975.

In declaring Hahn in default, city officials also said that the developer had failed to submit several sets of design drawings and parcel descriptions.

Council members said they were advised by attorneys that they could terminate the contract with Hahn or find the developer in default.

Termination of the contract would start a 120-day period in which Hahn could come up with a new plan for the mall. Under the default option, City Atty. Douglas C. Holland said, Hahn and the city have 30 days to work out an agreement ending the developer’s participation in the project, after which Burbank can start negotiations with other developers.

The council voted 4 to 1 to find Hahn in default.

“The city has waited long enough, and it’s time to move on now,” Councilwoman Mary Lou Howard said.