Agreement on new Glendale project looks to be near.

If things go as planned, center could open in mid-1996

The Glendale Redevelopment Agency and a team known as JMB/Tolkin Partners expect to finalize a letter of intent by early July to develop a $50 million retail/entertainment center in downtown Glendale. Subsequent leasing and financing commitments could lead to a spring 1995 ground-breaking and a mid-1996 grand opening for the 200,000-square-foot project known as Glendale Marketplace.

JMB/Tolkin Partners is a joint venture of JMB/Urban Development Co. -- a commercial development affiliate of Chicago's JMB Realty Corp. -- and Pasadena's diversified Tolkin Group real estate investment/development concern. Amid three years of considering various redevelopment proposals, the redevelopment agency awarded JMB/Tolkin the two-block project -- bounded by Brand Boulevard, Broadway, Louise and Harvey streets -- through a "request for proposal" competition, explained Nick Westley, the JMB/Urban executive acting as project manager.

Earlier this month, the agency approved various proposed "business terms" defining the scope of the development, noted agency Project Manager Kirk Pelser. Those terms would be formalized in the letter of intent -- which the parties "hope" to sign by the first week in July -- specifying the agency's and developer's respective responsibilities, Pelser continued.

Within 90 days of the letter's signing, JMB/Tolkin would be required to show evidence of construction financing commitments, as well as contingent lease commitments from key tenants intending to occupy a multiplex facility and about 50,000 square feet of retail space, Westley specified. He added that the development team has already received "letters of interest" from tenants representing about 140,000 square feet -- including a "large" bookstore and a video/music retailer collectively satisfying much of the 50,000-square-foot requirement.

The development team will also need to finalize agency-supported agreements to purchase the site -- which now contains a "hodgepodge of older buildings," as Pelser described it. The city would also need to complete and certify an environmental impact report before finalizing a "disposition and development agreement" with the development team -- possibly early next year -- Westley added.

He described the site -- adjacent to the ultra-popular Glendale Galleria regional mall and just south of downtown's high-rise office district -- as the "perfect location" for an entertainment- and restaurant-oriented center. The project would also include a city-funded parking garage with 970 stalls, 700 of which would serve the Marketplace, Westley added.

He also predicted the development will be able to avoid the reported business turnover problems experienced by a neighboring mixed-use project -- known as The Exchange -- through centralized operation and a focus on the busy Brand Boulevard frontage.

In chronological terms, the JMB/Tolkin project appears to have a jump on another planned downtown Glendale retail center.

Homart Development Co. in partnership CB Commercial Realty Advisors continues to work with city officials and prospective retail tenants on the proposed second phase of the nearby Glendale City Center project. Originally planned as a second highrise office tower, Homart early this year announced its intention to amend its development agreement with the city and pursue a 130,000-square-foot retail complex.