‘Crossing’ to bridge retail with outdoor fun
The Crossing at Tahoe Valley is designed to be a destination at the Y in South Lake Tahoe.
By Kathryn Reed
By this time next year the outdated Factory Stores at the Y in South Lake Tahoe is expected to have been converted into the modern Crossing at Tahoe Valley.
Sutter Capital Group based in Sacramento in January expected to infuse $1 million into the parcel at the corner of highways 50 and 89. Now the project is a multi-million dollar undertaking, though an exact dollar figure is not being disclosed.
“We need to reposition the center for a more active lifestyle,” Burke Fathy, general manager of the ownership group, told Lake Tahoe News.
It will still be a retail center – with the option for current tenants to stay – with the addition of two restaurants and a 10,000-square-foot storefront that will be built to suit whoever moves in. The latter will be at the end of the building where Mikasa was, opposite where Big 5 is.
This additional commercial floor area and coverage will come from taking out about 4,000 square feet where the two wings meet.
This is a proposed new building that will be built to the tenant’s specifications.
The goal is to get a mix of tenants. With less than half the center now rented, there is plenty of room for other businesses.
A Sacramento general contractor has been hired. Fathy said local subcontractors would be part of the mix. The permitting process will take place this fall-winter, with ground anticipated to be broken starting in May.
The area being opened up is designed to welcome people who are on the path behind the center, be it on foot or bike. A gathering spot will be developed with seating and fire pits that will be shared by the eateries. Fathy has met with some local establishments, but no decision has been made as to what dining entities will move in.
This area will also tie into the greenway the city is creating through the Tahoe Valley Area Plan that was adopted earlier this year.
(It was at the city’s urging the owners incorporate Tahoe Valley into the center’s name, while “crossing” came from the intersection of the two highways.)
At the Sept. 17 California Tahoe Conservancy board meeting there was talk of connecting 3.5 acres belonging to the state to this project. The land sits between Tahoe Valley Pharmacy and the Factory Stores.
CTC has been talking to the city, and the city to Sutter Capital Group.
“We are confident we can come up with a design that combines open space with other amenities,” CTC Executive Director Patrick Wright told his board. “It is more preferable than vacant land.”
Fathy at first said he would not comment on the CTC parcel, then added, “It is not happening at this time. We are just concerned with what we’ve got.”
The entire façade will be overhauled so it is eye-catching, Fathy said. This will be done by using wood, Corten (rusted steel) and stone. The flow of the center will be improved.
“It will be a significant rebirth of the center,” he said. “We want it to be a community entity.”
Be interesting to see what passive design elements will be used. Such as passive solar energy for building and outdoor heating. Also passive solar energy for deicing. Snow cascading off of roofs into ecosystem areas instead of pathways might be a huge plus. Time will tell.
The old Lampson Plaza. It was a big deal when Gary Casteel did one of the first commercial projects under the new TRPA plan in 1990/1991. Filled in the back two corners and commissioned one of the first public art pieces in south shore.
this will be a nice place for the homeless folks who live on the ctc property.
another project where the out of town folks did not do their homework.
Now the attack on Runnels makes more sense.
They should talk to the Scusa guy or the Base Camp people since they obviously know what they are doing in this town. Those two could make a killing and spread their empires.
Chief: you are so right. This will be the homeless new toilet and heroin hangout!
If the re-modeled center is using rusted metal for the facade, the city should have left Runnels alone, his property will fit right in !
Now that Runnels moved his cars it’s time for our wonderful homeless, beggars and week to week motel drug addicts to welcome our visitors to town.
RE Runnels-
Has any body else noticed that two of Runnel’s hulks were hauled to Meyers and are parked in plain site of everything right off the lot of the Standard Gas Station between the station and the new Gym?
Weeks there, yet nothing at all from the Meyers people who have been so vocal about what the community wants. Is the lack of comment on the junk cars indicatinve of what they really want….to be left alone?
LTN, has anybody else commented on this?
I think this project is just what should be done all over town. Changing areas of blight into vibrant, clean, lighted areas of social and economic activity can change neighborhoods.
I think we can do without the denigration of the less fortunate at every opportunity by those that have inflated opinions of themselves. Instead, let’s work together to make SLT better for Everyone.
K Clancy. Always easy to spot an out of towner. Thanks.
For some reason that I don’t fully understand I find it difficult to enter and leave and park at this shopping center and I suspect that is part of the reason it never has prospered. I have felt this way through all its iterations.
Does anyone else feel this way and understand better than I do why?
Rob5,
The access has always been difficult. After the intersection at the “Y” was redone it made it almost impossible to enter the project without breaking the law.
Same goes for the whole area McDonald’s, CVS, Pier 1.
Too bad the redesign is so industrial
looking I thought new or remodel construction was suppose to have a mountain look to it.