Housing is not the key to success at Vallco mall

CONDOTINO Scorecard

137 Condos (N. Tantau)
46 Condos (TraVigne)
206 Condos (Montebello)
130 Condos (Morley Brothers)
80 Condos (Kentwood Plaza)
37 Condos (Silverstone Prunridge)
46 Condos (Oak Park Village)
142 Condos (Civic Park)
23 Condos (Adobe Terrace)
176 Condos (Cupertino Villas)
204 Condos (Vallco/Rosebowl)
107 Condos (Metropolitan)
137 Condos (Vallco Condos)
380 Condos (HP-Toll Brothers)
TOTAL: 1,851 Condos
TOO MUCH, TOO EXTREME
D & E will add 517 condos
IRRESPONSIBLE and POORLY PLANNED

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Housing is not the key to success at Vallco mall

Councilman Orrin Mahoney has stated that Vallco's 135 condos would make "the flywheel go up." I totally disagree with his statement.

Housing is not the key element to make a mall successful. Look at Valley Fair and Stanford Shopping Center. Without housing, these two shopping malls are still successful. The key element for a successful mall is retail stores. All the city council members admit that they don't know what retail stores Vallco will bring in. Without the retail stores' commitment, how can Mahoney say condos make "flywheel go up?"

Look at the Vallco project's management. Everything is always in a rush, from overnight construction to the garage and now condos. Vallco always brings in new requests at the last minute. If Vallco owners managed the project well, they wouldn't need to bring in these piecemeal requests.

If Vallco really cared about the public, they would have lowered the crane before the bad weather started, and the Monday night accident would have been avoided.

We are afraid the flywheel will be out of control soon if everything is in such a hurry. It's time for Mahoney to open his eyes and look at the facts. It is time to slow down Vallco's requests until its management ability improves.

Patty Chi
Cupertino Courier
Letters
Wednesday, April 5, 2006