1M-SF Regional Retail Center Set for Groundbreaking

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ANTIOCH, CA-Transcan Development LLC of Alamo is planning a one- million-sf, open-air regional retail center here that would be located on 200 acres at the northwest quadrant of the intersection of Highways 4 and 160, where a new interchange is under construction. The shopping center, which is currently early in the entitlement phase, is tentatively scheduled to break ground in 2006 and open in 2007. Transcan Development is a developer of large-scale mixed-use projects. The company is in various stages of planning and development for about 3.5 million sf of retail, office and residential space throughout California. The company’s largest project under construction is Canyon Crossings and Canyon Springs, a 90-acre, 922,000-sf retail and office development at the intersection of Highway 60 and Interstate 215 in the City of Riverside. A Wal-Mart Supercenter will anchor the retail portion.Transcan Development’s chief executive Bob Bahen declined to speak directly to GlobeSt.com about the proposed project here, which is located about 35 miles northeast of Oakland. Through an intermediary, he says the company is in the process of assembling and acquiring eight parcels totaling 250 acres, of which 200 acres would hold the retail development. Bahen is not yet revealing what might go on the remaining acreage, according to the intermediary, though flex-office space has been mentioned in the local press.Transcan chose the location for several reasons, according to the intermediary. It is one of the largest remaining developable sites in the region with freeway frontage. It is in an area of strong residential growth. The communities it expects to serve have high average household incomes. For example, two of those communities, Antioch and Brentwood, have average household incomes of about $83,000 and $96,000, respectively.Shopping centers nearby the site include the 35-acre Somersville Towne Center in Antioch, where Macy’s opened last year, and the 52-acre Lone Tree Plaza in Brentwood, which is anchored by both Home Depot and Kohl’s.Jim McMasters and Ed Del Beccaro of Colliers International in Walnut Creek are the marketing and leasing agents for County Crossings. Neither was available for comment. In a prepared statement, McMasters says he already has received “strong” interest from “several large format, national retailers.” According to published reports, Transcan tied up 152 acres for the project in mid-2004. The land, which is owned by Alamo-based real estate holding company Brosamer & Wall, has attracted other developers in the past. In 2003, the Guidiville band of Pomo Indians made an unsuccessful attempt to develop a casino on the property.Also in 2003, voters in Antioch overturned the city council’s approval for a project that included a 240-apartment complex and a 260,000-sf business center in the area of Lone Tree Way at Golf Course Road. Following that vote, the council began backing away from its Sand Creek Specific Plan, which envisioned up to 4,000 houses and 100 acres of commercial space in a 2,700-acre development area in southeast Antioch.