PARKING WORRIES GALLERIA MALL SAYS CARUSO PROJECT WOULD HURT.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

GLENDALE - A victim of its own success, the Glendale Galleria gets pressed for parking, especially during holiday seasons, and for years has shuttled in shoppers from off-site lots.

Now, Galleria officials are warning that the proposed 15.5-acre Americana at Brand project, to be located adjacent to the Galleria, will make downtown parking tighter.

``We know there are parking issues at the Galleria,'' said Galleria spokesman Arthur Sohikian. ``It's an issue now, and we feel this new project would make the problem worse, not better, in the downtown.''

The Glendale Galleria draws an average of 1.5 million visitors a month during the first nine months of the year, but the number more than triples to about 5 million per month during the last quarter of the year.

In addition to shuttle service, the Galleria has valet service to stack-park cars and increase capacity, and it also has traffic management around the mall during the holidays.

``We continue to look at other improvements that would alleviate the situation,'' Sohikian said, but the mall currently has no plans for other parking improvements.

Americana at Brand developer Rick Caruso and city staff maintain the new center will help alleviate parking problems. Motorists, they said, will park once and walk the downtown area.

``The whole idea is to park once and go back and forth,'' Caruso said. ``I don't think there's going to be a cumulative impact. I think there are going to be less cars.''

In fact, city officials changed the parking lot location in original plans to promote walking. The lot, originally placed at Colorado Street and Central Avenue, was moved north to a more central location up against the Galleria parking structure.

``One of the reasons for the move was to promote the park-once concept,'' said Jeanne Armstrong, director of development services for the city. ``If people had to park at Colorado and Central, there would be much less willingness to walk up to Brand and Central.''

The Americana, which will have 475,000 square feet of retail space, will have 2,700 spaces. The Galleria, with 1.5 million square feet of retail space, has 6,212 spaces.

``Our project has more than adequate parking. It's parked similar or better than the Grove, and we have not had problems at the Grove as successful as it has been,'' Caruso said, referring to his popular Los Angeles development.

Sohikian said Galleria officials are also concerned that Caruso will charge for parking at his lot, even though he has maintained he would not.

The deals the city has struck with both Caruso and the Galleria on paid parking are nearly identical, Armstrong said. Both would require City Council approval to be able to charge for parking.

``Our concern would be to have 6,000 spaces of free parking next to paid parking,'' Sohikian said. The Galleria would also need the approval of all four of its anchor stores to be able to start charging for parking.

But Caruso said he would have nothing to gain if parking became a problem for his customers.

`'We have no intention of having paid parking, and if the city wanted to grant approval for that they would take into account the impact on the Galleria,'' Caruso said. ``It's not in my best interest to have a parking problem in this place. I want my customers to get there, park and enjoy the center.''

Naush Boghossian, [phone]

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com