Vallco Shopping Mall is looking a little brighter these days.
Mall ownership announced in a digital letter last month that they have installed a light display on the “bridge” connecting mall buildings across Wolfe Road. The lights were installed days before Christmas, according to Reed Moulds, Sand Hill Property Company’s managing director and the letter’s author.
The announcement came in tandem with an update from Moulds about further demolition planned in 2019 as ownership makes way to construct their “town center” project approved through SB35 housing legislation.
“All this talk of demolition got us thinking about what we can add instead. We felt a little extra light and celebration should be introduced to the area, especially since so many of us are driving to and from work in the dark during these winter months,” the letter stated.
“We invite you to check the lights out when you’re driving around or when visiting Bowlmor, the Ice Center, Benihana and the Bay Club. The lights are not necessarily holiday-specific, so the community can expect them to stay up through the winter. They are more a modest symbol of our appreciation of this community and our ability to be a part of it.”
The letter also stated that the “Vallco Town Center project
is moving forward, and its construction will be 2019’s overarching theme.”
Ownership embarked on the first
phase of demolishing the nearly empty mall in October starting with the
parking structures near the former Sears. That work is wrapping up.
A second demolition phase is coming in early 2019, which will include
demolishing mall structures on the west side of Wolfe Road near the closed
Dynasty Seafood, according to the letter.
Sand Hill got final approval from the City of Cupertino on September 21 to move forward with its SB35- project application, Vallco Town Center. When fully built it will have 1.81 million square feet of office space, 400,000 square feet of retail and 2,402 additional housing units. Half of those homes will be designated as affordable housing. The project will include a 30-acre rooftop park, town center plazas and a shopping, dining and entertainment district, according to Sand Hill.
Moulds said residents can sign up for demolition updates by going to the Vallco website.