AREA DEVELOPERS TO PITCH FOR KEY GLENDALE PROJECT.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

GLENDALE - Prominent local developers will try to impress the Glendale Redevelopment Agency today in their effort to be chosen to revitalize a key but troublesome section of downtown.

Caruso Affiliated Holdings/Legacy Partners and J.H. Snyder Co. were recommended from a pool of 15 interested developers to send teams at 2 p.m. today to make presentations on Town Center development. The agency board is not expected to make a choice today, however, and is likely to ask the staff to make a recommendation between the developers.

Jeanne Armstrong, Glendale's director of development services, said each team was told in advance that it would be asked to try to demonstrate that it is better qualified to do the work, not to present a specific concept for the project.

``It takes probably a million dollars worth of work to come up with a real concept,'' Armstrong said. ``Anyone can come in with a pretty rendering and say we'll give you A, B and C. But that's not always the reality.''

Instead, a developer and architectural team will be chosen to work with city officials and community residents to come up with ideas for the 15-acre parcel roughly bounded by Broadway, Colorado and Brand boulevards and Central Avenue.

The developer also might be asked to try to incorporate land east to Louise Street to provide a link from the Galleria to other retail areas.

Caruso, which built The Calabasas Commons and The Promenade at Westlake, both upscale shopping centers, and Legacy, which has built residential and office buildings, would team up with urban designer Elkus/Manfredi Architects.

J.H. Snyder, which opened the Water Garden in Santa Monica, would work with Jerde Partnership as its urban designer.

Armstrong said agency leaders envision open space of two to four acres surrounded by retail businesses, housing, offices, a hotel and an amphitheater or a multiplex theater.

Councilman Gus Gomez, chairman of the redevelopment agency board, said he will be looking for a developer who can bring people to the downtown area as a community and not simply for shopping. Use of open space is the key, he said.

``Town Center is not just a name we randomly picked,'' Gomez said. ``It's supposed to be a gathering place for the community, a place where people can sit down and have lunch. What I'm going to look for is someone who can bring some level of activity to the area.''

Developing the area will be difficult, city officials said. While the redevelopment agency owns most of the land, the developer would still have to acquire some parcels in an expensive land market.

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Map: Proposed site of Town Center Development