Town Center shaping up

Despite the grim economy, spirits are high at the La Cañada Town Center as AT&T; begins construction today (Thursday) on its store in the same building as the Chipotle Mexican Grill; and Sakura steak, seafood and sushi house is preparing for a mid-March opening.

Representatives of a jewelry store and a juice store also have approached the city with inquiries about prospective projects there, said Fred Buss, senior planner for the city of La Cañada Flintridge, adding that no permits for either have yet been filed.

Town Center developer Darren Mattix said that despite some recent residents’ criticism of the Town Center in Valley Sun letters to the editor, things are shaping up well at the community shopping area, which was built to its currently developing criteria as requested by many members of the community who attended a series of city meetings to plan the center.

“I want to remind people that [the developing Town Center is the] big plan of what the community wants,” Mattix said.

Mattix and his crews are currently completing the “last little bits, that are minor landscaping changes,” including the Olberz Park monument sign, which will be erected by the first-week of March, he said.

A majority of the Town Center also is leased, or in negotiations, Mattix reported.

“Yes, we’d like to be all leased, but we all agree that this is one of the most challenging economies, like none of us has seen before.

But the stores that have opened are doing better than expected,” he said, adding, “Faced with the economy that makes the pool of tenants small, we’re not doing too badly.”