GLENDALE MAY HELP WITH NEW CENTER; SHOPPING COMPLEX TO LURE PEDESTRIANS.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

The Glendale Redevelopment Agency on Tuesday will consider paying out $19 million and giving away $18 million in land to assist a developer in building an open-air shopping center in downtown Glendale.

Town Center, a 750,000-square-foot project, would include nine to 12 movie theaters, a 300- to 350-room hotel, 400,000 square feet of retail stores and restaurants, a 2-acre city park and a 3,000-space parking garage. Donahue Schriber, the same company that built the massive Glendale Galleria, is the developer on the project.

Glendale City Councilman Larry Zarian, who sits on the redevelopment agency's board along with his council colleagues, said the city needs to make a major investment in the $151 million project because it would provide an important pedestrian-oriented link between retail centers in downtown Glendale.

``This is what has been missing on Brand Boulevard. People go into the Galleria, do their shopping and then leave. Now people will be able to come across to Brand Boulevard and see there are other shopping centers across the street,'' Zarian said.

The Town Center would be directly across the street from the Glendale Marketplace, an outdoor shopping center which had its grand opening last week.

While the Galleria is one of the most successful malls in Southern California, the outdoor Town Center would provide the pedestrian-oriented shopping that people now enjoy at the Santa Monica Promenade and Old Town Pasadena.

``This is the trend. The Galleria needs to protect itself. They have to be on the offensive, not the defensive, out there in front of the curve,'' Zarian said.

Donahue Schriber has proposed building its $151 million project in the city block north of Colorado Avenue and in between Brand and Central avenues, just southeast of the Galleria.

The redevelopment agency owns about half of the 15-acre site and on Tuesday will ask its governing board, made up of the members of the Glendale City Council, to approve giving its holdings, valued at $18 million, to Donahue Schriber. An additional $5 million would be given to the developer to create a 2-acre city park along Brand Boulevard. Also, the agency would pay $14 million in property tax revenues back to the developer over the course of 22 years in order to cover the cost of building a 3,000-space parking garage.

The developers are expected to come to the agency for final approval of the project in early 1999 and open in spring 2001. The company estimates the center will generate 2,000 jobs.

Jeanne Armstrong, the city's director of development services, said Town Center has been envisioned as a way to link the Glendale Galleria to the Glendale Marketplace and The Exchange as well as other downtown retailers.

``We didn't just want to add more retail. We wanted to add a big downtown urban park, and we wanted to make sure the Glendale Galleria remains strong,'' Armstrong said.

The Galleria has kept Glendale hot in retail for decades, but Armstrong said Town Center will raise the city's profile even more.

``It's about making us the regional retail center for Los Angeles,'' she said.

Dave Mudgett, Donahue Schriber's project manager for Town Center, said the new mall would be an ``entertainment-oriented lifestyle center.''

To reach that goal, the company decided to try a different approach and create an outdoor walking area for shoppers.

``All retail needs changes. You have to be a success tomorrow. You have to keep evolving,'' Mudgett said.

When the development deal between the agency and Donahue Schriber is finalized Tuesday, it will allow the environmental review process to start, according to Armstrong.

The site is home to retailers like Pep Boys and Rite-Aid, which will have to be bought out or relocated by the developer, agency officials said.

Some residents are concerned about traffic, noting that downtown intersections are being overloaded by traffic from the Galleria and the Glendale Marketplace, and that it will just get worse once Town Center is built. They worry that even more traffic would spill out on surrounding neighborhoods because shoppers don't want to navigate parking garages.

``You're going to have absolute gridlock. It will force traffic into the neighborhoods,'' said Jim Weling, president of the Mountain Rossmoyne Homeowners Association.

By Tuesday, Armstrong said, the developer also is expected to have signed a deal with a specific hotel to come to Glendale. Donahue Schriber is seeking tenants but so far has not announced if any commitments have been reached. Mann's Theaters, which already has 10 theaters in downtown Glendale, has committed to building nine to 12 movie theaters at the site.

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MAP: CROWDED SHOPPING (detail of Glendale area)

Bradford Mar/Daily News