As first reported here in myBurbank on Monday, Target has announced that it will open a new ” flexible-format” location at 1033 N. Hollywood Way in a store that once held Akron’s until the mid-1980’s.
Many in the community has lashed out about parking and traffic concerns in the Magnolia Park area where the store is planned.
In a comment to myBurbank posted by Community Development Director Patrick Prescott, he states that while Target has inquired about the property, the City of Burbank has not approved the store.
What has not been established is if the area, which was originally zoned for the Akron store to do business from 1955 through 1985 was still in effect. If the area is not zoned for the store, Target might have to apply for a conditional use permit through the City.
At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, Councilman Will Rogers asked Prescott for more information and was told what is referenced below in his comments.
Below is the comment sent in by Patrick Prescott:
Hello. Patrick Prescott here. I’m the city’s Community Development Director and I would like to clarify that the City of Burbank has not approved a Target store at 1033 N Hollywood Way. Target inquired about the property a week or so ago and the planner they spoke to told them we needed more information about what they are proposing. They have submitted no applications and the city has approved nothing, although we have some preliminary drawings of how they would like to use the building. We agree this is an unusual location for Target to pursue given the limited amount of parking at the site.
Here’s what we know:
1. Target is building a new small “flexible format” store concept and they would like to open one at 1033 N Hollywood Way.2. The size of the 1033 N Hollywood Way building is about 24,000 square feet. For comparison, the Target at the Empire Center is about 146,000 square feet. The Ralphs at Buena Vista and Victory is about 35,000 square feet.
3. A business like this could require special permits from the city, but we haven’t determined which since we only received their drawings of the building on Friday. We have to figure out exactly what is being proposed before we can provide information on permit applications and possibly help them find a different location in the city.
On behalf of the NoHo Arts District, we will welcome this smaller-scaled Target to our neighborhood with open arms. It seems like you Burbank NIMBY’s don’t want it.
I think the main concern for those of us that live in Burbank is the effect on traffic and parking in that area. I don’t know if you ever go down Hollywood Way but there are times currently where gridlock occurs there. Personally, as it is now, I only frequent businesses where I can actually find parking fairly easy and don’t have to be in a traffic jam, even it that means going to Sherman Oaks or Northridge.
Guarantee it’s still zoned to the old Akron store. I’m sure Target has been doing the research for a long time and would not have wasted their time creating a rendering and announcing the store would open in July 2017 if they hadn’t. Go ahead and believe that Target just approached the city last Friday and they have no idea on the specifics, yet Targets own corp website has had the Hollywood Way store listed for some time now. Save your time and energy and just accept the store now, in a few weeeks the city will say the building is zoned for retail there’s nothing they can do.
The detailed architectural rendering tells me that this is already a done deal. The interior of the store is visible in the rendering, which means detailed plans have already been drawn up, down to electrical, plumbing, and fixtures. Target would not go to the expense of paying an architect to draw up the plans (and a computer graphics company to complete the photo real renders) if they weren’t certain this is going to happen. So, beware. Any show of interest in public opinion is just that, a show and nothing more. The truth is, it doesn’t matter what the public does or doesn’t want. It doesn’t even matter if the store is a success or failure. All that matters is that the people putting the deal together make money. That’s how real estate development (and city government) works now. It’s called corruption.
Anyone can make a pretty drawing based on pictures of an existing location. That doesn’t mean there are actual plans drawn up. It’s just a pie in the sky rendering, and it’s easier to make a simple drawing like that than it is to draw up real, detailed plans.
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