Developer Rules Out High-Rise Offices Near Burbank Mall

The Alexander Haagen Co., developers of the Media City Center mall, has dropped plans to build 650,000 square feet of high-rise office space around the mall and opted for low-rise construction.

The plan was reluctantly approved by Burbank’s planning board in a 3-2 vote Monday, sending the project on to the City Council.

“The reality is these buildings are a substantial compromise,” said Jef Vander Borght, chairman of the planning board, who voted against the plan.

Both developers and planning board members agreed that a soft market for commercial office space was the reason for the change. But while applauding the company for development to date, board members said they wished the project could have gone ahead as originally planned.

If the change is approved by the City Council, construction of 124,000 square feet of one-story retail space for Circuit City and Office Depot stores could begin by June, with the two stores opening by November.

Vander Borght and board member Cameron Thornton also objected to one part of the plan that would replace an 8,000-square-foot family restaurant with a drive-through fast-food operation. They said that a drive-through would not work well with the traffic patterns around the mall. Fred Bruning, a partner with the company, said the need for additional parking and revenue dictated the choice of a fast-food outlet.

“The retailer on the premises did not want the impact on parking of a full-service restaurant,” Bruning said. But two other restaurants are being planned for elsewhere in the Media City Center site, he said.

The entire development project, on a 41-acre site bounded by Magnolia Boulevard, 3rd Street, Burbank Boulevard and the Golden State Freeway, had been approved by the City Council in September, 1989, and included the Media City Center mall.

On the southwest corner of Burbank and 3rd Street, where the developer had planned 330,000 square feet of office space, will be the 24,000-square-foot Office Depot.

“We have structured in the deal with the tenants the right to recapture the space,” Bruning said, explaining that if the office rental market rebounds his company may take back the property. The Alexander Haagen Co. could reclaim the property for office development after 10 years, or every five years after that, Bruning said.