Council Economic Development Committee - Regular Meeting

Yeah. They're hearing just You

hear Okay. Good evening. It is or afternoon or good evening. It is Monday, 02/03/2025, 05:00. This is the council economic development committee meeting. I'd to welcome everybody, and mister Castro. Take your all, please. Council member Glynias absent. Yeah. He's absent. Member Andrews? Present. Mayor Salinas? Present. Thank you.

Moving on to, public comments. This is reserved for anybody that has a public comment that is on the agenda or not on the agenda. Is there anybody online that would like to make a public comment? Seeing none. Move on to anybody in the room that would like to make a public comment.

Hello, everyone.

Seeing none, I'd to close public comment, and then I'll move on to the approval of minutes. We do have a quorum, and I will entertain a motion.

I just wanna make comment on the minutes.

Seeing no comments, I'd move on until I'm Good.

I'm moving to make a comment. Yeah. Just wanna acknowledge you all for listing all the properties that were identified in my rambling of things on my notes. So good job. Whoever take the notes. Good comment. And I'm glad.

Moved by council member Andrews with the acknowledgment of wonderful note taking. Second. Second by mayor Salinas, and there are no objections no no objections. So unanimously, no. Moving on to reports and action item, development activity and selected property updates. This is an oral report. We have, Sarah Bowser and her team from the development services. The most capable, the most able of development services professionals this side of the Mississippi.

Oh, you're too kind. I will start off this presentation, and then I will be doing this jointly with doctor Green, and she's got some tail end updates for council committee today. But we'll start with the the first. So we we tailored our presentation based on the list of projects that we got from council member Andrews at the prior meeting. But I would also share that attached and also included was our was our full biannual update for you. So those that maybe we don't have a lot of detail on or don't, don't cover today, you'll see some of that in this report. So next slide, please. So first one, Arthur Max. Nobody cares about this project. Right?

But, no, it is it is currently in, building permit review. We've had several meetings as of lately with developer trying to get their team working together with staff to get them over the finish line. We're working through some last issues with fire department and public works, for some off-site, improvements, but really hopeful that we can get there in short order here. I know how important this project is, how wonderful it will be as an addition on B Street. So staff understands, and we're working, as fast as we can with the the developer to keep this moving.

Next slide. Achieve a Life. So, as we know, this was one of, three cannabis operator, retail dispensary operators that received approval from council several years ago. GivaLife has their entitlements approved. These entitlements will expire in June 2025.

Based on recent conversations with the property owner, they've indicated that they're currently working with the GivaLife business owner, to continue to move forward and build out the dispensary. GivaLife is looking to bring on a financial partner to help leverage some of that redevelopment. Just please note, any partial ownership change per the ordinance requires that it come back through the city for approval following any required background check. So we are still monitoring this site very closely. Would love to see something come to fruition. If not this, then something else to redevelop on that site. So we'll keep we'll keep the CDC and council updated. Hopefully, we'll see more activity leading up to this, entitlement expiration date. Yeah. Next slide, please.

U Haul. So U Haul, the developer has submitted, building permits and grading permits. They are on hold. They are waiting a state and federal permitting, approvals to be complete. So they are still working on their federal get the right word so that I don't misspeak.

They are still waiting on their four zero four from the army board. They're still waiting on their four zero one from the regional water quality control board, and they're still working on a final agreement with the state office of historic preservation on some of those issues. But we are they are as anxious as we are, but they're sort of on hold right now waiting for those state and federal permits to get wrapped up. And then we'll be able to get those permits issued, and they'll get going. Related to the art fee, we're all set up and ready to accept it, but we just they also had an opportunity for the condition to pay it and submit that prior to issuance, which we're kind of in that realm right now, or occupancy.

But we're ready. We've got it tagged. We're ready to make sure that we get what we need, for the conditions of approval. They're just waiting to get their federal permits and state permits. Next slide, please. Mission Crossings. So the residential construction is complete at Mission Crossings. I'm sure you're more interested in the frontage of Mission Crossings. That frontage piece of that property was sold. New ownership isn't necessarily affiliated with the hotel, and we've not heard any from anything from them.

They've expressed no interest or intent for development at the frontage at this point. Next slide, please. Maplewood Lane, another favorite project. So just to reassure council, the site is part of our vacant property program. We are actively working with them.

The property owner, and applicant, are continuing to look for additional financial and lending options in order to construct the project. These entitlements were also set to expire in June. However, due to AB 2729, all entitlements that involve residential housing were granted an automatic extension by eighteen months. So now these entitlements are good until December 2026. Next slide, please.

Lincoln Landing. So based on my conversations with proper residential property manager, they're at about 80% occupancy for the residential units on the apartments, which is great. Sourdough and Co recently opened, so that's great. But we've not heard anything further for any of the other vacant retail spaces. Next slide, please.

Sears. So currently, that property is listed for sale or lease, and staff really hasn't heard anything from that property or the property owners since early in the period. Next slide, please. Honda. So this was the existing or the the prior Honda site, because Honda did relocate. We don't have any current applications for this site, and so no idea.

We have seen sign on the other side of it, like, across the street. I think they owe both blocks. Street.

Split. Yeah. I, yeah, I

did see construction, but I didn't know what it was for.

Yeah. I I don't have anything. We heard through the grapevine that Toyota had some interest in maybe utilizing the site, but we don't have any active applications. So next slide, please. So this is the STAC community center. So they are actively we've got active building permits for phase one. And then I believe they're still working through some updates and changes and details associated with phase two. But I'm sure as you all are well aware, this project has got some funding challenges, and so that is causing some of the delays. But we are actively working with reps in the city manager's office and public works who are doing design and and such for this. Great project.

It's just slowly coming online. Next slide. Movie theaters. So based on my understanding, I mean, obviously, the Economic Development Corporation purchased the site. We've got a management company that is overseeing, the various, spaces. They are actively being marketed by the property management group. I think we just have two vacant spaces, and they're the corner and then the one inn right there on b in Foothill. So two vacant spaces, but otherwise, the rest of the spot is leased. Next slide. Old City Hall.

So this site, I think it was about a month or two ago. It might have been either early January or late December. I know there was a council item that came before council, trying to secure some additional funding in order to better secure this site so that it could be secured from any further damage. We've had continual break ins and real challenges with this site. The real concern is the location of this building and this site relative to the Hayward Fault Line.

It sits basically right on top of the fault. It's in a pretty unsafe condition and can't really be reused or redeveloped because of its proximity to the Hayward Fault. So at this point, we're just trying to secure it so that it will hopefully not have further damage done to the good thing. Next slide. City centers.

So this was the former city center. Obviously, the site on the or the picture on the right or the left doesn't exist like that anymore because we have since, demolished that 11 story office building there. So it is just vacant at this point. At the, as far as redevelopment or any RFP or surplus lands or anything that we would need to to at this point, it's sort of pending the hiring of the real estate property manager position. And once we get that individual on board, then I think we can start working out a disposition strategy and trying to figure out how we get that in line with the rest of the city properties going through various disposition.

Disposition. Next slide. Quality Inn Express. Staff is currently actively working with new ownership, for that site to get that project to completion, and ultimately get this open. So really excited after it's sitting vacant and dormant for so long. It's really nice to see the new ownership take over. And they've been working with us. There's been some deferred submittals and some things where maybe they didn't get permits for certain things. And so we're working with them very proactively, because we really understand the importance of this site and getting this open, and they are very active and, working with us as well. So really excited to see that project finally moving forward.

The next slide, I think we are turning this over to doctor Vang.

Thank you, Mary. So I think we are all pretty familiar with the Hayward Retail Center. Kmart did occupy the site in 1974 till December 2019, but it is now a 100% fully commercial center with only one small retail space available about 1,200 square feet. If you didn't know, current tenants that are open are Starbucks, In N Out, Raising Cane's, Ross, and Sprouts, And future tenants to open, HomeGoods, Curry Pizza House, Chipotle, Nabini, ice cream, and tea, Pritify Me, nail salon, West Coast Sourdough. Next slide.

So on the North side of town, we got what's it called? Sourdough?

Sourdough and Co.

Oh, okay. I didn't want, like,

more heated.

Yeah. Sourdough.

North South. Sourdough. Anyways.

This is the former CVS location located at 22501 Foothill Boulevard. CVS occupied the site from 1999 till September 2023. Has over 25 24,000 square feet. In 2021, CVS Incorporated announced they would be closing 300 CVS stores per year from 2022 to 2025. The current brokers have no interest in filling the vacancy with the new tenant, and they're not willing to collaborate with us.

They also would like for the city to purchase that parking lot right in front of it to establish a permanent parking source for the building. And there is an active lease agreement for the site, and it's not expected to end until 2026 or sometime before 2026. Next slide. Before Walgreens locations that we have, the top left is 164 West Jackson. Top right, 23958 Hispereian Boulevard.

Bottom left, 1138 West Jackson. All three of those locations are still open, all over 14,000 square feet. On the bottom right, you have 21463 Foothill Boulevard, about 9,000 square feet. That Walgreens operated from '91 till its closure in April 2024. Prior to it closing, Walgreens staff indicate that there was a new tenant scheduled to move in.

However, no active business license or anything has been registered for the property. An overview of Walgreens, they did announce that they were gonna close 1,200 stores nationwide over the next three years. 500 of those stores will be closed by fiscal year twenty twenty five. The specific impact on California's Walgreens, five forty locations is still unclear. Like many other drug drugstore chains, Walgreens is facing challenges from increased competitors like Amazon and declining drug reimbursement rates.

The broader industry is affected with CVS laying off thousands of employees in 2023 and Rite Aid declaring bankruptcy the same year. Walgreens has indicated that sluggish consumer spending is a contributing factor. With around 8,700 stores, remaining, their closures will impact approximately 13% of the. This is Autumn Plaza located at 2900 Mission Boulevard, over 15,000 square feet. It's been vacant since late twenty twenty one.

Previous uses did include new and used automotive sales. Last year, economic development did receive three inquiries for the site, automotive repair and a coffee shop operator. However, there's probably no interest from developers to redevelop the site due to its small size and challenging triangular shape. Next slide. Russell City Distillery located at 22549 Butteville Boulevard. The two storey building went about 3,000 square feet. It's been vacant since 2012. Former uses was a document services and a nail salon. So the Russell City Distillery Project has been in development since 2014 but has never legally opened. The property is listed for sale at 1,800,000.0.

Critical permit requirements still remain incomplete, so a combination of those unresolved fire permit issues and unresponsiveness from the leasing company makes it very difficult to fill this vacancy. Next. Are our two US Bank locations that have closed. On the left, we have 987 B Street. It's a two story building about 10,000 square feet. US Bank occupied this site from 1995 till about 2023. A new owner did acquire the property in November 2024. There is new paint and new flooring throughout the building, and there are potential plans for a matcha bar coffee shop to occupy the left corner tenant space. And they will provide outdoor seating, but nothing is confirmed at this time. And the far right US Bank at 2700 Isbury Boulevard is located at Oliver Corner Shopping Center.

It was vacant since November 2024, and at this time, we don't have any information about future use. An overview of US banks. So over the last two years, brick and mortar's have been closing their locations at a high rate nationwide. US Bank specifically has closed a 103 locations in the past fifteen months. Much like the banking industry, traditional retail has experienced a significant shift towards online and mobile banking, a trend that accelerated during the pandemic. And as a result, banks have reduced their physical footprint to cut costs, expenses on leases, and to cut staffing.

Next slide.

Our two Bank of America locations that are closed. On the left, we have 1253 8th Street, which operated since 1995 with almost 6,000 square feet. It has been vacant since August 2024. There were rumors that a day care site was going to occupy this space. However, no business plans or permits have been submitted to the city to date. And on the far right, we have 26801 Mission Boulevard, over 7,000 square feet. It's been vacant since April 2023, and and we don't have any information on future uses. An overview of Bank of America, they are the second largest bank in The United States. They closed these two locations as an ongoing trend, branch closures. This strategy reflects the trend towards digital banking.

However, Bank of America does plan to open a 165 branches over 63 markets by 2026 while continued continuing to consolidate. So for every two that they close, they will open a new one. New branches will be smaller than traditional, so around 3,500 square feet, And their layout will be different. Open floor plans and employees using tablets. Next slide. 802 A Street was built in 2017. It's a two story mixed use development. Upper floor has 54,000 square feet of senior housing. And then the bottom right hand side has a little over 5,000 square feet of retail space. The regional space remains vacant.

It's already built out with private offices, a kitchen den, restroom storage. The mixed use zoning allows for different uses, retail, dining, office spaces, and personal services. The property is actively being marketed. However, we have no updates on future tenants. And next slide. 808 B Street. Some of us remember this is previously home to Hayward Hardware store. They operated for eighteen years. It's been vacant since December 2020. Two story building with over 13 square feet 13,000 square feet.

The new owner acquired the property in July 2023. Tenant improvement building permits were issued December 2024. It will include minor exterior upgrades and the interior, a full remodel, featuring housing, retail, and office space. So the Bottom Floor will feature two retail locations as well as two accessible live work units, and the Top Floor will feature nine live work units and additional 1,400 square feet of office space. That's it for the update.

But we're here to answer any questions that you might have, or if there's things we do know, we're happy to answer. But, otherwise

You know, could we can you go back and start from the very beginning? And then because what I wanna do is I kinda wanna go through this really fast because I do have questions for each of the each of the properties. But I'll I'll

Yeah. We can do it. We can do it that way.

Oh, you're gonna do that?

Let me go

and do it together?

Yeah. Let's do it.

Okay. Is this the beginning?

Yes. Yes.

Okay. So I went to the Arthur Mac in Oakland. Okay. Pizza's good. And and I'm excited. I I you know, I think this is great. It's gonna, you know, you know, this is gonna be good. I'm I'm really anticipating them. I wanna be there when they lowered the bar car in there. And but, you know, I was telling every time I talk about this around town, people are really excited. But, you know, whatever we can do to to get them I know I know that's been, you know, sort of our focus. But, anyways, I I think that's great.

What do we have to do to get them? Yeah. Because I I'm hearing that there's challenges with getting them to the finish line, I appreciate you all having those meetings. I appreciate everyone that's been communicating with folks to try to figure this out and just trying to see what is what what is what is the issue. Like,

I would say that the the biggest challenge that we have or what sort of caused the most recent issue was trying to understand from them how the occupancy was going to work at a place that's not traditional. Right? This is not a traditional restaurant or operation. It's nothing that we've ever really approved in the city. So that's new. Right? It's primarily an outdoor restaurant. Right? They're operating out of these containers. So that being different, I think how do you look at that and what does the occupancy look like?

And then I think some of those occupancy numbers were based on what we saw and what the information that they shared with us triggered some additional requirements for sprinklers and other things. We've gotten that resolved, so that should no longer be a concern. But I think, frankly, because it's so new and it's on a vacant site and it's between two existing properties, trying to understand how it's gonna function and what would happen in the case of a fire and and how do we control or make sure that we're not spreading that out beyond the site and trying to focus on what's happening there. And I think I think we're we're we're getting real close between their, the applicants, fire protection engineers, and their professionals and and our technical staff in house to understand how we're going to sort of look at that. And so we're really just trying to get on the same page to make sure we have a good understanding of how to evaluate this proposal from that perspective.

And so that's been a bit of the challenge is really trying to make sure that we are creating a a safe place. I think from from the fire department's perspective, we certainly don't wanna create an unsafe situation. They don't either. So just, you know, how do we look at this? What are the regulations? What are the rules? How do we really look at that and what's required understanding that it's external? Right? They're like, the the cooking car is sprinkled, and so all of that separately. Yeah. But through it's not on the site. And how do you make sure that we've got the the fire provisions that are necessary so that something could be contained and not go off to adjacent buildings?

Are both sides gonna be open?

Yes. Yes. Both sides will be open. And so and then there's also some off-site requirements that we need to work on in connecting them to utilities in the same way that the East Bay Eats needed to coordinate with some of the stuff that's in that muni lot back behind. So trying to get that stuff all worked out, make sure we're all on the same page, and make sure we're moving forward in a in a in a positive fashion because I think we all wanna see this, but we also wanna make sure we're not creating Right. A problem.

Has has the fire department visited doctor Max in Oakland?

I don't know. I can't speak to whether or not the fire department has been to either the Emeryville or the Oakland location.

Can we have them visited? Because two other cities have figured this out. Like, it is an outdoor brewery. It's not a brewery. It's not even a brewery.

They just serve beer?

They just serve beer. Yeah. And there's a three story shipping container above this restaurant, and they have figured this out. It is next door to a there are at least three or four offices that are next door. If not, I think they're actually operating in one of the offices, and then they have the outdoor beer garden.

And they figured this out at least six years ago. And there are multiple multiple developments that have modular functions next to stand alone buildings. Like, this is not a new concept. Urban block in San Leandro has been around for years. So, I mean, I think they need to see it, but I I I feel like if we're if this project doesn't go through in my opinion, we're sending the wrong message about what we're doing with unconventional building materials that all have been proven to work.

And then we also are sending the wrong message about adaptive reuse. We're using a bar card, which would be a feature, which would attract people downtown to wanna take pictures next to that thing. There's nothing downtown that people wanna take pictures next to. This is it right here. This is what what we've been asking for for years, and we're killing it. This is not okay.

I will certainly be more than happy to to pass that

request. Councilmember Andrews, city manager, doctor Anaves, thank you so much. I we understand the priority, and we certainly we're going to see how we can expedite the resolution of this item. Appreciate the feedback and be encouraged in the unit. Yes. I mean, I I listen. I don't have I don't have any connection to this other than I've seen it working, and we can make it work here. It's all.

Okay. Move on to the next one. Well, you guys all know my opinion about this, so I'll just pass this over to you.

Yes. I would say You

can't come fast enough.

Yes. I would say I would not be sad if this permit expires. I felt like we were as a council size of mayor, wanted to just see a development happen, and we wanted to bring some revenue into the city. And this actually has been very disappointing to see this eyesore. And on top of that, I think they actually took the historic sign down. So they actually did more damage to the downtown than developing.

And and they're following down the same track that Cookies went down with ownership, name, and all those other stuff. So,

I mean, I'm totally like, I'll I'll totally call it. If we they expire, then that's fine.

Okay. Next one.

One, I felt like this was, an issue for the fire department because people were lighting fires at this location, right, at the Salt I mean,

I I think the Oliver Salt Building has been thoroughly destroyed at this point. I mean, if you see it, I mean, it's it's dilapidated. It's it's an issue. So I think any redevelopment at this site is gonna be a good thing. Like I said, I I think they would have moved forward already. Those permits would have been pulled, and we would have seen activity there.

Okay.

They're just waiting on state and federal permitting.

So

Yeah. Doesn't even seem from what I since.

Mhmm. Okay.

Next.

Oh, yeah. Go ahead. I'm happy that we got at least some affordable housing out of this Yes. Yeah. Versus it could've gone a different route, and it could've got a weird disappointing disappointed that there's no interest here. I would be curious to see if the Holiday Inn owners would be interested in doing something there, not necessarily another hotel, but something that can complement their hotel, if they have that kind of development backing or track track record.

Am I incorrect in believing or thinking that did we do didn't we strike some kind of an arrangement to do something to that front? Like

No. No? No. So the deal that was struck was that they weren't they were no longer gonna be obligated to the timeline to develop something on the front in order to get their occupancy permits on the last of the units.

Yeah. That's

They agreed that they would put affordable units that would meet our requirements and entered into an agreement. And that allowed them to be absolved of some of those timelines, but then they sold the frontage to another

entity. So I guess my question now is, can we get them to clean it up, like, landscape it, put because right now, there's Well Park there's it seems like there's cars parked out there.

Right. And so I've been working with our code enforcement team to go out there and see how it's being used and whether or not that's allowed and how we might follow-up on that front of front of it. But from a development standpoint, we've not received any applications for anything. So

Can we We can add them

from the community preservation side of things.

Which yeah. I mean, because I because I okay. Then because I guess it was just one of the conversations what we had because we were looking at just turning it into a, like, landscape it lightly, put, you know, either, you know, ham bark or or whatever. Landscape it lightly, put tables out there for the people to

We'd love to do that, but we're also dealing with different ownership. Right? So there's some liability issues.

Interested in a 100,000 drinks?

Well, this well, we do that. We'll say, why is it the way to pull them out?

Yeah.

And then

okay. Okay. I would

love to. I I would love for something to be there, but, you know, it's also a challenge in dealing with.

Alright. Next is the maple and main. Oh my. The one that the one that endures is Weirs Mitchell. But

So this AB2729,

it's the automatic extension. Is that applied to any other properties?

Any other residential contract. Yeah. It does apply to a number of projects. Okay.

That's no. And they just they weren't bumping. Okay.

Yeah. They they are really struggling with, I think, trying to get this out of the ground.

So so okay. So but wasn't this part of the wasn't this part of the the mediated the the court mediated settlement that whoever that the new owners or the the the new group had to do something within a period of time.

I don't know. I wasn't party to whatever agreement happened with this being sold out of receivership, but they purchased it. They got it reentitled. And that reentitlement entitlement, you know, is good until now

at this point 20 When

it was sold out of receivership, I mean, I thought it was gonna get I thought it was gonna get billed.

Yeah. A lot of residents ask me about this one. So

Okay. Okay.

Is it a is this all market rate?

I can't remember. No. It was a combination of mark rate and affordable. It was.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Next.

Everyone I know goes to that gym.

Yep. Everybody Everybody goes

to the gym. Yeah. But it's nice. Half a burger is good. You know?

I do have a question about standards because city sport, this one is significantly better than other ones. I won't call out which ones. Okay. But is there, any, like, incentive program? Did they say, hey. Can you make it look like this one, the other ones?

Not not really. So the it's like hotels. Like, so the business is open, and they must meet the corporate standards of the flag. So under this the umbrella corporation

Okay.

For so this is for corporate people often come and inspect, and they're meeting those standards.

Oh.

So at the time when the other one that you might not want, they have questions about you know, they meet the standards that were that were they were contracted to do. So until City Sports Corporate reigns reigns it in, Todd knows this. Right? When the retailers come in, they must meet the corporate standards. Okay. Citi, in and of itself, can't necessarily intervene, say

Oh, okay.

It is upgraded.

And what what's their occupancy? They almost full? Are they full?

80%.

I would be below.

The residential

is about 80% occupied, so they're doing great leasing out the the residential units. And then the commercial, some of the spaces are still vacant, and I have not heard any updates on additional

Yeah. I think those tenants. I think those are would be good for more, like, spa type or dental type uses because of the way it's kinda hard to see from. So I don't know if they're trying to attract those kind of uses, but I think it'd be good there just because there's so many people that live there. But okay. That's great. The sourdough's open, and they're being a reason. That's great.

Okay. Next.

Definitely buy

Oh, yeah.

Someone in audience could buy this. It's great phone. Okay. So they're not oh, so they are they're ready to sell, but no one

So the site itself is up for both lease or sale Okay. Is my understanding.

What would go in there? Like like,

what I

mean, I I I think it really depends. I mean, I think what we've been dealing with is, as you know, you know, there's a lot of mixed ownership, and there's a lot of funky property lines at the Substance Mall property, which causes some challenges. There's also some limitations just because of the airport and the flight. But but I believe this site is in Zone 6, which is the most permissive airport overlay zone. So there's there's definitely more potential here than, say, some other spots on the site. But

The height, how many stories we can go?

Gosh. I can't remember.

Okay. But it's it's spout. Okay.

But there's definitely, usually, the issue is about density, right, and the amount of people you're putting in in an area that would be, you know, potential hazard because of its proximity to the airport. So it's usually more about density Okay. Especially if you're dealing with, like, residential or even some high intense commercial use. And then the height really gets into, you know, some of those the the flight patterns and and where they are relative to the airport and the runways and just really trying to make sure that we're not running into any issues there. But you would be able to do multiple story. I mean, the Sears Building is a couple of stories, so you'd at least get that. You might even be able to go a little taller in some spots. The shelves?

Floors. Four floors.

Perfect. What What it? Type of retailers are going for this larger space?

That's what that's what I was asking though.

It may not you know, ultimately, that might not be what happens. I mean, it could be an adaptive reuse of the building, or it might be a a you know, depending on how you're able to consolidate, the properties, it could be a demolish and a complete redevelop And redevelop it into something else that makes more sense, for today's market.

Is Again Is the building is the building a strong building?

Looks like it.

I have really Yes.

Anybody that has Aikido outside of my expertise?

Is Aikido developing?

Well, it was built in '56, I believe, and the column lines are fairly narrow.

Yeah.

And, you know, there's gonna be some remediation costs associated with it based on its age in that and the TBA, the 50,000 square foot building on the corner, you know, the the one where they had American Freight. That building is relatively new, so it'd be much easier to use for a police headquarter. But that building itself, you know, has a lot of opportunity, but there's gonna be some upfront development costs associated with that. It's nice that it's got the service center. Yeah.

I mean, the truck docks truck docks are underneath, and there's a there's a lot of backup houses underbringing. So everything that is ground level is easy to shop. People don't like shopping down. It's just their shows.

K.

No. I I I I heard you cough. I wasn't sure what that was, but, hey. I didn't think about that. Okay. Who's that? Alright. Okay. When when when my dad was a teenager, his first one of his first one of his jobs was he worked in the tire center at Suffolk. And and for years and years and years, it had the same phone number. It was like it was like 786-4000 or something like that. My dad, you know, he always knew the number. I I was a I was a grown man. My you know, call Sears. 786-4000. Why are you so

big? Okay.

Honda. Toyota. Let's get Toyotas in.

Yeah. So the reason why I asked about this one is because I do see some nefarious activity sometimes just driving by at night, sometimes in the middle of the day. And and yeah. I think all that. Yeah. I think there's some activity happening at this location, but they do keep it lit. They do keep it clean. Yep. It's it's it's just more the the people that are hanging out there. And they they did put up the blue light, so I think they are aware, but they we have to deny this area because it's very visible for the community to see what's going on there.

And, also, I did see some pictures, that somebody went and knocked down all the all the road narrowing thing, the the The ballers. The the the ballers that were on the street, somebody knocked them all down. So it was we have to tell Alex. Anyways, you know, as as we're going through these, as we're going through these photographs, another thing that I was thinking about was, you know, public works. You know, we're talking about this, you know, launching this bicycle program.

And, you know, I'm looking while we're doing this, I'm looking at some of these older spaces and, you know, looking at a potential suitor for, like, a bike shop or do some kind of, like, something around fixing selling bikes, fixing bikes, and and so forth. But, anyways, that's it would go here, but I'm just saying that's what I'm thinking about. Okay. Next. The Staxa.

Yeah. So yeah. They know I'm like this.

Yeah. What's the gap? What where are we

at now? What's the Right? It's pretty high, but I I

thought it was 50. Is it 15? No?

Yeah. We'll have to look into that. But we can follow-up and get that in. She's 15.

And I can't recall if there's gonna be an update at some point to the full council. I can't recall on my conversations with Mary on staff center. But we can certainly look into that and get that.

Is is It's nice to see movement, though.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I drove by. The mirror looks great. Okay.

Next.

Yeah. I I wanted to know what can we do as a pop up in the coffee area just because that one spot. Is something coming? And I don't know.

Yeah. I'm sorry. So the the the guy I don't know if Paul knows this yet. But the copy center, the other side of the street, he wants that corner.

Oh.

That corner.

Yeah.

And That's how I do. And I wish it was I wish there was a I wish there could be another use for that.

No. No. This is city manager, Dustin Costas, on the line. He could comment on me.

Oh, okay.

Oh, Dustin?

Yeah. Hey, everyone. You know, like the mayor said, there there has been interest in this site. Actually, we've had a few that have been interested in the site, and it just hasn't worked out. But, certainly, we're actively working to try to get that filled.

Awesome.

Unfortunately, it will be the best use, for now. But, certainly, we we would have loved to have had, you know, a restaurant or something else in there that would attract more people, but, we'll continue to work with the with Advent to to get something, great in there.

Are they gonna stay in the current one? Are they gonna

be No.

He wants he wants to move.

I'm not gonna downsize, I think.

Yeah. He wants to he wants to be smaller. And I oh, okay. I think one time council member Andrew said, put cats in there.

I'm serious. I am serious. Serious. Stanford Mall has a cat cafe, and there's a line out the door. And it's it's happening in Japan. It's happening in Korea. It's happening in Santa Clara. It's happening in Sunnyvale. At cafes, it's it's happening right now. They're doing it. I don't know why they're figuring it out, but they're doing it. Okay.

One of the challenges is there are there's the the suite is in a state of disrepair, And so there there'd be a significant significant investment in tenant improvements to get a restaurant in there. That's that's been what's the some of the intern has been.

It's not a cat cafe is not necessarily a restaurant. I don't know if you know that. It's

I I have not visited a cat cafe, so I I will not pretend to be you know.

Dog guy. I will. I'm a dog guy. Yeah. No.

It's in the it's in Milpitas too in the in the outlets. It is an opportunity for kids to play with cats, and you don't have to bring a cat home. And they wait up to, like, thirty minutes to an hour, and parents are bringing them, like, have fun with this cat, but we're not taking a cat home. And they will pay, and a lot of the money actually goes to the animal shelters to take to for the rescues. But it's not a restaurant. It's just called a cat cafe. So, yeah, there's Okay. The

the the the current leases on that, are there are they about running are are they about almost due, or are they sort of running their their their time? And

They're they're really kinda all over the place. I mean, you know, it just sort of depends on when someone goes in and how long the lease how long of a lease that they've signed. We've had some folks renew. We've got some new ones, coming. I'm happy to share an update with council. We've got a schedule of of the lease, you know, the lease calendar, if you will, that has each of the suites and how long their their lease is, you know, lease runs for.

Yeah. Okay. Do we know do we know what the lease is for the restaurant upstairs?

That I don't know. Paul Paul may know more because I know we've had discussion discussions with them in in recent history just trying to make sure that they've you know, they're able to be open and operate.

I'll have to follow-up on the

exact dates. Okay.

I I will say in the center, on the weekends when they come in, weekends at night, that that restaurant, it's probably, like, extended

restaurants Oh, really?

It is if you just type in Hana into Instagram, the amount of social media influencers that have posted content, we're talking about hundreds of thousands of hits. Right?

It Oh, of with

the families. It's a it's a big space as you go. Right? Yeah. They attract some content.

Well, I'm just glad they they changed. At least I at least I haven't noticed, and maybe, like, it's a big thing. But the the the window dressing facing B Street, I mean, they were they were plastic. They were hanging on these shower rods. Look like I mean, it just it should look bad.

I know.

And I think, you know, we need to, you know, the juxtaposition is that when you go to, like, Metro, Metro has its vibe going. And then you go to, like, the tea shop, you know, and you walk in, and it's like, there's plants all over the place. This is kind of a the the aesthetic is very different from door to door. It's just there's no really kinda, like, consistent thing. But there you go. No.

I was I had a question. Can we program the plaza area space since we own it, like, with pop up vendors or that are stealing complimentary uses, like, and crafts. I hope Yeah.

We we we can. I mean, I think the challenge there gets into you know, if if that were to impede traffic to a business rather than add, you know, add to the benefit of of having it. And then also, you know, obviously, liability for for if somebody trips and falls, that sort of thing. But it's certainly something we can look into.

Okay. And in the theater, I know that there's a time frame for that, but can they also look at doing more events through the theater? So they have, like, step and repeats. They have, when a movie comes out, they might have some marketing materials, things that are attracting people to go to that specific theater. I don't know if that's something that we could talk to them about.

I mean, we can talk to them about it, but, you know, at the end of the day, their their business is their business. And, you know, I mean, we can we can certainly encourage them. But as far as, you know, anything with teeth to try to force them to do anything, we don't really have that. We could certainly talk about the them you know, partnering with them, maybe offering them a small discounted rent or something like that if that were something that council wanted us to pursue.

Okay. Next. Oh my god.

Yeah. So I know this is a tough one, but I was curious to see if we looked at doing what they did with House of the Fine Arts and just leaving the frames of things. If we can't build anything and if this is considered historic, like, keeping the archway and kind of leaving it open if we can't secure it. Some kind

of Putting lights inside?

Like, lights outside. Like, I don't know. I know I know staff has talked about light shows or I don't know what something that's not worth to continue this path of us putting more security in and it continues to be a nuisance for staff. I mean, I know it's been a problem for not just fire, but also maintenance and PD. So I don't I just wanna see what what staff recommends for us to do with this that's gonna actually be possibly benefit to the city versus being a nuisance.

Yeah. I think we are we are open to all options at this point. I mean, it is a drain of resources trying to keep people out of it, keep it secure, keep it, not on fire. And so that's certainly something that we can look into. Obviously, we don't wanna put a tremendous amount of resort you know, we don't wanna make a significant investment on it, or I should say we're hesitant to make it significant capital investment on it because of its location and proximity to the the fault.

And so it's you know, that that becomes a challenge on what it can be used for. We're also, you know, aware that there would be some could be and likely is some pretty significant remediation from the time frame that it's been built. There's underground you know, there there's below ground facilities down there where the old jail used to be, that sort of thing. So it's it would not be the cost would likely not be insignificant.

Okay.

You know, it's so, clearly, the building is it it's inhabitable, you know, and I mean, it's a beautiful build, granted. But, clearly, there's there's really nothing we can do on that property. Right? I mean, the fault runs right through it. The building is broken. The floors are uneven. I mean so, basically, are we really just waiting for an earthquake for the whole building to fall down and we just move on with our lives? Or where I mean

That that's not that's that's certainly not our intent. You know, we we've been discussing it at the executive level for for the last six months or so and are likely to bring some options forward to counsel to consider. You know, like I said, none of them without a a price tag, obviously. And so we have to figure out what what what's best, that we could recommend to to counsel.

I mean, there's really nothing we could do with the building. Right? I mean

It it has very limited to, little use. We'll we'll put it that way.

Yes. And, you know, with the, you know, with the fear of, you know, breakthrough lark busting through the doors. You know, what if we were to just bring it down? Dare I say that.

Yeah. I mean, you know, that that I think if if if cost were no no object, if money were no object, I think that would be the recommendation from staff to counsel. And and that may be the ultimate recommendation to counsel. We don't have estimates of what it would cost, but I think we are in the low 7 figures, I think, to to to demolish it at this point.

Because yeah. You know? Because I mean, there's so much, you know, there's so much other stuff that we can do there. I mean, I just okay. Okay. I don't wanna spend too much time. Okay.

You're done.

Alright. Moving on. Civic Center. Alright.

Thank you.

Good.

We're waiting on the property manager. I think so. I mean, just because capacity right now is a bit of a challenge, you know, spending a lot of time dealing with our active February application. So it's been challenging to really take on another site of this magnitude, understanding the importance of this site Okay. The historic, you know, projects and challenges. And it it so I think at this point, we're really just trying to wait till we get the real estate property manager on. And I think when we get that position filled, then it'll be easier to kinda come to counsel, start talking through a disposition strategy, and figure out the best approach for redevelopment of that site.

Okay. And that that job class is ALK, the job posting? Is that It it

it was, and it'll we be we really We went there.

Yeah. Sure. We we went through a recruitment. We didn't end up hiring. We we made an offer to someone that ultimately they they didn't we were not able to agree on terms. We'll put it that way. And we are likely to be back in the market here the next month. Okay.

Okay. Next.

No. I'm I've seen more movement Yeah. In the past I saw trucks out.

So it's very

I saw them moving in mattresses and stuff. I drove by one day or one afternoon.

Yeah. Just Okay. Just interested if they're they could do something else across the street. Let them focus on this. Okay.

Let's get them open. Yeah. Let's let's

get them open, and then

we can start planting the seeds.

Okay. Next.

Okay. Great.

This place is jumping.

Know?

Heart the neighbors have heartburn because we we narrow the street, but, you know, it is what it is.

No. I just wanna say one woman told me she cried when this opened this development opened because she didn't she just never thought we would get these kind of amenities here, so I'm glad I'm sharing it with you all.

And Sprouts, well, I was there Sunday morning at, like, ten with Pat.

It's nice to see you. This is disappointing to hear, but I appreciate the update because I was curious about what's gonna happen. And it sounds like you said 24,000 something big? It's that big. That's gonna be a Okay.

Can we can we, can we think we decide or can we actually put, you know, I don't know I don't know the the word restrictions or limitations, or can we put what we want on on this site and sort of to sort of signal to people? So I I know what I don't want on this site. But

Oh, you don't want

Yeah. Like, could we could we put out there, like, this is a certain like, you know, this is what this is what we want there?

Yes. Yes and no. So, certainly, anyone who goes in there as long as they conform to the city's Yeah. Zoning and the property, I think it it doesn't two dozen uses of our right. But on the other hand, that's where economic development comes in and our partnership with DST. So when we do meet with prospective buyer and the tenants, or even the ownership and and the brokers will always tell me that what the council is in the committee's wish list are Okay. To steer them to users, but, ultimately, it's a private land transaction between the broker and the broker.

Oh my gosh. This place. Okay. Okay. Next next slide.

Are the so is Walgreens they they have a list, but they don't have a list of California locations yet. If there if there are any further locations that are gonna be closed. Right? They're not listed yet. Right? Yeah.

When these retailers these national retailers list, they have a general target number that we're gonna reduce our overall store count by this much, but they don't ever they rarely tell you in advance, because there's a lot of legal issues that they have today with as well to And

are you seeing them open smaller footprint sites or just

At this point, given where the industry is financially with the CVS Bank bankruptcy and and just the disruptions in general toward online Yeah. Pharmacies and just the challenges that the pharmacies have with insurance claims and things like that were not you don't see a lot. What you what you'll see is what you see in the last couple years where either they're going 100% online or they're going into existing stores, like so, like, you know, during COVID, you saw CVS trying to partner with, like, Safeway. Yeah. So the Safeway got out of the business of trying to sell their own pharmaceuticals, and they let had a CVS pop up inside. So we're kinda seeing those.

The CVS is already in Target.

Target. So and so then that's that's how it happened. So and to answer your question, no. I don't I have not seen them open up anything. Any news headline that you see regarding CVS Walgreens or any big box pharmacies, it's just about closures and resetting their real estate framework.

Have you seen housing developers linked sites such as potential?

I we haven't. Staff hasn't received any inquiries from housing. Anybody, honestly, didn't know. I originally got an inquiry

on the Walgreens site there off of Foothill, the one on the bottom right. And there was some interest by, for medical use, that would go there, like medical office, but they never pursued it beyond just asking some questions. Was like, know, would it be allowed, that sort of thing, and then it didn't go any further. And that's in Hayward?

That that footprint is a Hayward footprint? Yeah. Yeah. That's weird because everything around it is you know, Grove is that's a Grove is on the sole bridge.

Yeah. Power sound like an s, and then the right side of an l, all that has.

Same weird

Well, so is so is so is Grove from Foothill to Mission. Oh, gosh.

It's like an issue with Yeah.

Yep. They just

want it up to you.

Alright.

Well, you know, the other thing too I mean, I look at the pharmacies. You know, we just had, you know, Arlo Rx open up at Hayward. I mean, they're I mean, not only I mean, you know, I'm not this is not a commercial for them, but they're they're it's an online farm human pharmacy with prices that are a lot you know, they're much, you know, a lot cheaper than some of them

in places like this. And if they're in

Hayward and if you're gonna, you know, get the doctor, the doctor can send it right directly to to the company. You can have your prescription the next day. If not the same you know? Anyways, but I okay. Alright. Next slide. Otto Plaza.

Interesting coffee shop. I did not see that as potential, but now see it. But it is a big footprint, but, actually, that's a lot of coffee. They got to go for that.

Yeah. Was thinking about I was thinking about brewery.

Okay.

You know? Anyways

But that's another location that I'm seeing a lot of activity out here. From Mission, middle of the day, night, block people behind there.

And this is privately owned? Correct. Okay.

Okay.

Next slide.

I also saw that the Bank of America and Eden Shores closed, the ATMs, like, the little it's like a ATM slash.

The kiosk. Yeah.

The kiosk. So it's not it's affecting ATMs too. Right? The the stuff.

Stop it, man. They maintain it. Yeah.

And then we lost the Wells Fargo ATM. They were so is there anything we can do about that being, like, a community service issue, or it's just

Generally, no. The the banks would just say our banking service is available twenty four seven online and digital mobile.

Yeah. It's just case This is

a trend that's been happening. I mean, particularly for, like, Bank of America. I I mean, for the last eight, ten years, they've been scaling back the their availability. So if you call if you went in and talked to a teller, they charged you money. Right? And so this is kind of culmination of that, just the real estate you said.

It's just a lot of businesses deposit cash, so it's a it's we're losing an asset here.

Just given the bank closers and and just given what councilor Hitchens just said, how is Comerica doing?

Haven't heard much of them, so, you know, don't have anything to comment on it, but they seem to be able to do it when we walk by.

America might go in there. There's people in there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then you said 987 that there's there's a tea a coffee and tea place?

Yes. I mean, they're just waiting down.

Really?

Is no the Noni's open?

Noni's on May. Noni's? She is she is open. Hours are they're regular, but she's

Okay. Next next Well but one of those buildings, there's a building already on there. No? Isn't the 1253? No. Where's 1253?

Wells It's Fargo. That's the

Wells Fargo? It's near.

It's Cross Street.

Yeah. But isn't isn't There were two Bank of America's, and then the one came down, and there's actually

The brick one. Right?

Yeah. Then this one is on the right side that had the drive through.

Yeah. Which one the brick one is the drive through that's no longer there.

No. Mission. That's not Mission. That's not

oh.

Oh. Mission 1 is still in.

Oh. You're still in.

That's yes. I know that one. Okay. But 1253 Where is that one?

It's right next to Ghazni. It's just up from the Ghazni kebab restaurant on

A Street. You drive you probably drive.

Just thinking about the one that's further up to the left on, towards like, second that came down Yeah. That's the one where Yeah. The senior senior housing. That's pretty nice.

That's That

place is nice. And, yeah, I close the millions.

So this Mission one, is it we see a lot of activity. Yeah. A lot of activity. I get a lot of complaints about that building, but I know staff's working really hard to to manage that from a code ex code perspective. Mhmm. But it's it's constant. And it's next to the Dollar Tree, so a lot of things are happening in between the Dollar Tree and this. And then there's a lot of property that's being managed by the security guard, but he can't manage that building because it's not their property. So he's yeah. He feels really stuck on what to do.

But what has helped is the EV charging stations next to it. It's actually bringing eyes to that part of the building, so they moved to the other side. But at least it's not on the the side of the charging stations anymore. But I would see a lot of drug use just right just while I'm driving by. People are doing drugs right next to that building. So if you can keep an eye on that, that'd great.

K. Next one. Wasn't wasn't the whole front of the that whole white frontage facing A Street, wasn't it all of that supposed to be green?

It will be. It's got times. Vegetation. It's coming in.

Okay. It's been a it's been a long time. Okay. And then

Yeah. I think I bought this I don't I don't know if I bought this at this building, but I see a lot of activity, like, across the street from Lucky's, and it kinda cross back and forth

Yep.

In this area, and I think it's because there's nothing happening at the bottom. So wanted to see if they're not gonna get any retail coming in there. Can we make a community space for the seniors? Can we allow

I went in there already.

Like but you said it's for offices. Right? For Yeah. For use? Is it for the residential use? Or No.

The bond is the offices for them to lease, but they do have as community space as part of the project.

Oh, I was gonna say, yeah. Just give the lease part more community space for them. Like, can we allow it?

Suggest that that it's a property and property, and we don't control their programming of their space. But then you have to think about they'll have to maintain its staff and it's gonna be

Yeah. So the eyes on the street.

So let me ask this question. Just given what you know, and I know we kinda joked around with the cats thing, but can we bring cats? No. I'm kidding. That was a joke. How could I mean, these guys you know, the property owners know. I mean, couldn't we meet with them and and, like, make the case? Say, you guys, I mean, let's have pop ups in here. I mean, wouldn't wouldn't it look better if there was activity in that space rather than it I mean So, I mean, I know they're privately owned, and I know we're sort of you know, we have to sort of work with the, you know, the the creative imaginations of some of these property owners. And I know the but are they that really are they really that creative? Mean, that's

the What I'll what I'll say is, you know, property on property, they can do what they want. As long as they're consistent and they're complying with the big property ordinance and they can be a graduation code, they can do whatever they want. Right? And so on the flip side, hearing hearing you loud and clear in the air, I kind of have development staff. I was routinely, in partnership with code, routinely try to engage in those property owners to sell these ideas, do pop up, cat cafe, anything at all to activate it. Simple things such as just light your building at night. Let us have a public hour inside the store so when people walking by, they see things on easels with a number that you are quoting by. Yeah. And so they have all all been resistant to it.

Every single one So then And

then then now they're also just not responding. And they know, this but they're alright. They don't have to respond to this if they're complying with the minimum distribution code and all the other minimum health and safety standards.

Can we is that something we can can we legislate this? Yeah. And and you know, about empty buildings where they have to do minimum standards of an empty building, lights. You know?

Yes. And I'll just add. It's a little bit gonna be the topic of the next item, which is a project we're kicking off. Okay. We have some consultants that will be coming on to help us see if there's strategies that we haven't already employed. To to Paul's point, there are things that are outside

of our control. We can't control

I get that. I get that. But it's you know, because I know, we do have a a vacant an empty building ordinance or a vacant whatever they would call it. And people ask me all the time, you know, can we do something with these people that with empty buildings? I'd say, well, we do, but we can only do it when we're, you know, enforcing, you know, cleanup and all that. But it it doesn't kick in the moment it it turns empty. You know, we don't charge them. And that's what they think it is. But, you know, if but if if there is a tool that we can apply, you know, if we need to do something, let's do it. I mean, because, like, this is right on a street. You know? I mean

Yeah. Because we see a lot of people doing

Driving by there. Drive There's

a lot of people driving by, but I think people know that it's empty, and so you see stuff happen there or unwanted activity, I'll say, is happening on 8th Street because they know it's empty.

And I can only imagine that you know, I I have gotten calls from residents in there because the whole frontage, you know, at in the evenings, it's all, you know, unhoused go there, and they they they don't have their tents, and they, you know, they put their their, you know, their tarps and and all that. Anyways, I you know, I've gotten calls from them. Okay. Alright. Next. I see activity going on there.

Yeah. Is so it's large enough to do all that? Wow.

It's big. That's a big building.

So nine mutinates? 11 total. 11 total. Wow. Okay. Well, something's actually near a sprint.

And they're doing what are they doing about they're just doing the formation stuff on the bottom. I mean, they're I see they're down there. I don't know what they're doing. They're just you know?

Okay. That's

good. They have permits. Yes.

Yeah. That's good. Great. Okay.

Next.

That's it.

Alright. Thank you. Okay. Thank you all. And we'll help people refer back to this presentation. We're gonna ask that you we're gonna send them the link. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Next item. Oh, public comment. So, like, to close this item, I'd to open up for public comment. Is there anybody in the room that is affiliated with commercial properties that would like to make a public comment?

Or buy any of the properties.

Or like to buy any of the properties. Let's sit here for about ten minutes

and see if somebody sends

me the

thing. Saying

Well, I'd like to ask you this question. The Sears property, what's the, you know, what's a can we have an update on sort of what's going on with Sears? And

So, you know, as a developer, I wanna control, yeah, all the real estate, and the the general public doesn't understand the difference between ownership. Right? So they just see it, and they complain at me. The REA was written again back in 1956, so that's a very complicated document that doesn't follow the current formats. So there are some different challenges there.

I do have a little bit of responsibility, especially along with Playa, so we try to work with that. But Seritage, the sort of property management arm that they built, the CEO is Eric Dinnenberg, who was my former developer. So I've got a relationship there, but they have one office in Sacramento and I think nine guys or five guys, they handle nine properties. So they come around as often as they can. Usually, it takes a lot of complaining. We have gotten their lights back on, but they still suffer from vandalism, stealing the copper out of those lights. They get them back on, and they're ripped out a couple of days later. Fortunately, they've maintained 24 security for the last three or four years. That has kept the property safe. Thank god.

But from day one when I've been on this property, that was recognized as the opportunity. Everybody knew

what was coming.

And we would love to buy it, but we would have to have a deal ahead of that to support the funding. All that being said, I think Brookfield is in a in a position where they're looking for those one or two deals here and there that you can really snatch up. But current ownership has a reputation for overvaluing the property. Yeah. Because we were meeting with them monthly under Rouse and then under.

So it's a regular topic of conversation on our monthly calls. It is a focus of our efforts where I've got resources that are not budgeted, that my the rest of my retailers have to sort of share to cover in their games. So I try not to spend my limited resources there, but I I do try to keep it up. And I do appreciate when the community gets online and lets the city know through Access Hayward that help is needed because that will go to Seritage and provide sort of two pronged efforts in making the place look good. But we've looked at a lot of opportunities.

We've looked at, like, a d one training center as an opportunity to buy, or even a medical center just a few years ago. I think there will be a reimagining of the property when Sears finally gets developed, much like the new park. I don't think Costco is the appropriate fix here, but there will be a reimagining. We would like to see more entertainment, whether that's pad restaurants and some outside retail, maybe a smattering of offices, but it will take a reworking of the REA. So that will require concessions from the Macy's, the Jason Penney's, and the other parties.

REA is what? I'm sorry. Receptorical easement agreement. That's our big master document. And there's eight amendments to it, so it's all very complicated. Yeah.

Can you just leave Spear Halloween there year round? Unnecessarily You

see did you see the Saturday night? Did you see the Saturday night live on the spirit Halloween? Yeah. That was

pretty full.

Google it.

You do so. They

were even tenant. I I would love to have something in there year round. Yeah. The American Freight came in. Mhmm. Thought that was a great use. Brought activity to the center, kept the lights on and in their best building. But I think American Freight just kinda suffered like everybody else did through that rough patch that we went through. We we're, of course, looking to redevelop our property with some of the bigger spaces I've got. I've got a couple of 25,000 square foot spaces that at the end

of these deals, would like

to see redeveloping smaller operators and at the same time give the exterior of the property a facelift to match the nice theater entrances that we've got three

or four.

You guys are doing a facelift. Right? Right on-site right now. You're doing a facelift right now?

Where?

Outside in your sheep shoe or something?

No. Not not right now. I mean, we did sheep shoes facing out. We did Forever twenty one facing out. Oh. I would like to see the back of American one face out and the outside of Ross face out, you know, should those leases turn over. It's a it's a chance to slice the the retail up into more usable spaces for more operators and at the same time get that facelift.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Anytime. Okay.

So I'd like to close the so close public comment. Close this item, move on to business friendly Hayward project update. And I believe senior planner Elizabeth Flynn will take care of this.

Okay. I'm sorry about that. I'll it

off real quick.

So this is this will be an item associated with the strategic road map, accounts for projects. This this project that is being kicked off in partnership by the planning and the government will address two of the strategic road map items, but all in all, it's designed to take a real deep dive into the city's regulations. It's been on our feature item feature meeting topics item list for quite a while, as you know, to take a look at our ordinances and see where there may be changes or updates to our regulations to make it more to lower the barrier essentially, lower the barrier to entry into Hayward to be able to for us to attract new users that may not consider our community because of the regulations that we have.

That'll turn

Great. So good evening, mayor, councilmember Andrews, Elizabeth Blanton, senior planner, and along with doctor Green and our new assistant planner, Sancho Riddle. And tonight, we're gonna be giving you a brief overview of this new project, which is a partnership between the economic development division and planning divisions. We're calling it business friendly Hayward. This is a working title, so we're open to suggestions if anybody has any.

We're also, I'll mention here, in the process of bringing on a consultant team to assist staff with this effort, which will consist of the planning firm, Rincon, who you might recall helped us with our housing element and our climate action plan, so they're very familiar with the city. And then also with our retail experts, Metrovation, to again help us answer some of these Stivo retail questions that we have. Staff has allocated a $100,000 for this project, which will come out of the planning division's consultant budget, and we anticipate it'll be completed in approximately twelve months once we kick it off. Next slide. So as described in the cover memo for this item, while this project will tackle two strategic road map projects, several downtown specific plan programs, and a couple of new state laws, always have a few of those thrown in.

We've distilled the project's overarching objectives down to the following. So first, we aim to streamline entitlement and permitting for desirable businesses across our commercial and mixed use zoning districts. So, again, as we were talking about earlier, if there are types of businesses that decision makers and or community members wanna see more of in Hayward, we wanna make sure that our codes and permitting processes aren't making it unnecessarily cumbersome or expensive for these businesses to open. Second, we aim to activate vacant and underutilized properties and storefronts downtown. We were just talking about, you know, we have several properties downtown that have been vacant for a long time.

Many things are outside of our control. We don't control the market. We can't reroute the fault. We can't force property owners to undergo renovations against their will. However, as part of this effort and with our consultant team that we're bringing on, we wanna explore the things that we can control.

Are there new strategies, code changes, process updates that we can do that could either temporarily or permanently inject new energy and vitality into our downtown? So, like, what are we making it easier for those cat cafes, for those pop up kiosks, for things that can kind of inject some of that new energy? Now these are two lofty project objectives. So I'm sure you're wondering how exactly do we plan on achieving this. And for that, I'm gonna turn it over to Sachi and

then Amber. And you can do the next slide.

So there's five main products that we'll get through this project. And the first two really go hand in hand. With Rincon, staff will come up with a best practices document from comparable jurisdictions, and then we will use that to compare against Hayward's current codes and practices. So staff will identify a few desirable uses that exist in livelier districts, like commercial districts in downtown. And these uses include things like cabaret or parklets, things that really activate areas or invite community engagement.

And then we'll identify comparable jurisdictions with thriving commercial districts and review their zoning regulations and permitting processes and create our best practices document. Then we'll take that document and compare Hayward's codes and practices against it. This comparison will give us an idea of where we present unnecessary challenges to getting those desirable uses and businesses starting this in Hayward. Staff will also be getting input from the community, and asking what they would like to see and also where they see that there are barriers to being a business friendly Hayward. So we'll involve current, businesses and the the development community, by reaching out to the chamber of commerce and also conducting interviews with, many different stakeholders.

So that would be recent applicants, Metrovation, who we're going to be working with, and retail brokers. Those are the kind of people we would be interviewing about what their process has been like. We'll also reach outreach to the broader community as a whole through street parties and city events, like tabling at those and being available to the community, and social media, as well as potentially doing a workshop in, like, the downtown, which is basically where individuals in the community could meet with a staff member in the downtown areas and walk the streets and really discuss Walk the shop?

Yeah. Yeah. Love that. Shop. It

gives individuals an opportunity to really discuss ideas and challenges for specific spaces. Additionally, planning staff and economic development staff will be providing feedback. And then staff will take that feedback and synthesize it into a summary that will then kind of guide how we proceed with the project. Then I'll turn it over to Amber for the other two points. Thank you, Sachi.

So the last two product deliverables will be a commercial analysis, which will be provided by the economic development subconsultant, Christine Furstenberg of Metravation Retail Resources. Metravation Retail Resources, they focus on getting the retail right, so which includes making sure that zoning works for every tenant. Their knowledge will be beneficial when working with Rencon to streamline entitlement and permitting process. Within this product, a market study will include a SWOT analysis, which will identify the opportunities and challenges of downtown based on how the retail tenant would see them, as well as a void analysis to identify possible tenants that would naturally fit into our Downtown Hayward based on demographic profile. They will also identify impediments to business reflection and start up.

And then the last product will be addressed in final draft of regulations. Remington staff will provide a red line revision of the zoning ordinance downtown code and Mission Boulevard code, including updates to land use, in commercial and mixed use districts for consistency with industrial downtown and Mission Boulevard districts. The revisions will also update landing statements across commercial and mixed use district districts to streamline processes of certain business types. Next slide. And so this team, we wanna make sure that we cover all the components of the strategic road map projects e five and e six, which are mentioned in the cover memo as well as the identified downtown specific projects.

Given the overview of the project and objectives, our two questions are, are there any specific zoning or muni code regulations that CDC bills are outdated or unnecessarily restrictive that we should prioritize during the revision of this project, or are there any other topics related to supporting Hayward businesses that should be tackled as part of this?

Well, I'll take it from here. You're in charge. No. Never mind. We're going on to questions. So Okay. These are the questions that they have for us.

Are there specific zoning that what that outdated or unnecessary? Any of the topics related to supporting? Is it your turn, or you want me to go?

I think what we well, actually, I don't I actually have the answers to the questions versus actual questions, but I am curious to hear from the business community if they wanna

So before I'll what I'll do is I'll go to public comment first, but, I don't have the name, but I have the acronym for this program. BFF.

That's cute.

I just don't know what the other f is. I was trying to figure that out. BFF. What I mean, what's a zoning term? What's a good zoning? What's a good BFF? Where are your BFF?

Right. It's business friendly something.

We'll figure it out. Yeah.

So I like to Great story. Go to public comment. Is there anybody that has a public comment on this? Yeah. I I'm you know,

I I don't come to these meetings as often as would like to, but I see a recurring theme with round floor retail Mhmm. Intended as convenience Mhmm. For, you know, residential units sitting vacant for extended periods of time. And I think that it negatively impacts, you know, the developers, which makes it tougher. And and this isn't to, you know, reduce my competition, but there are some places I just don't think it makes sense.

I do agree that a lot of these properties need some, at least, some storefront convenience retail, whether that's, you know, a haircut shop or a, you know, dry cleaning, drop off delivery, these types of things, but more amenities rather than trying to base retail there. And that that can help them with the returns. It'll help build these spaces up so we don't have the the, you know, the empty windows. That's just my thought. And but I don't know that that necessarily requires code change.

I think that's just a sort of a shift in sort of approvals moving forward, but I I don't know where you're oh, sorry. That's just my initial thought. I know that we had that conversation regarding the development of LaPlay. It didn't make sense to put it literally across the biggest retail footprint across the street. So just Okay.

Your three minutes are over. Would you like to make a comment since?

Just a brief one. I I concur. I I hear that a lot as I'm meeting businesses and just prospective businesses and people just in the neighborhood. It's like retail's changing. And I went to a developer's economic forecast in The Peninsula a couple weeks ago, and they were just talking about just the we have to change cities have to change their strategies on retails and requiring these new developments to have retail underneath when people are buying everything online.

It's just it's not an effective strategy anymore, so you have to adapt. And what I hear from a lot of just favorite citizens and other businesses, the the curb appeal for many of our I mean, when you go, you know, the windows, we have we have we have businesses that are selling products, but they're not promoted in a very attractive way in the windows when you go, whether it's downtown or even just down Mission Boulevard. You look in windows, and they're not inviting. You know? If you think Manhattan, right, they decorate their windows to bring people in, and that's what gets people to stop and window shop.

So there's nothing that's really attractive in terms of window shops that are gonna bring people in. So I'd say those are just the two big. I I don't think they're muni codes right in our regulations, but it's a big part of just shopping and getting people to to come out and, you know, frequent the establishment. So but I can definitely get back to you on some possible muni code.

Thank you. Okay. I'd to close by and come back to questions. And, you know, something I don't know if you were the one that, mentioned this, But some time ago, we talked about, like, on B Street, for example, setting standards for, you know, setting standards for retail down there. Opening hours, closing hours. You know, everyone opens and closes at different times. There's that. The other one is, you know, we got this thing in Hayward. We we locked the front door, we opened the back door. You know?

I mean and and you're right. I mean, I think, you know, the Foothill Boulevard, you know, building is an is an you know, it's a classic example. The the Chinese restaurant, Chef's Experience, gotta go through the back. Kraft Pizza, gotta go through the back. You know, everything you know, a lot of the a lot of businesses, you gotta go through the back door. You know? And they open and so, you know, how do we sort of set a standard of, you know, making sure that everyone goes to the front door and, you know, and so forth? Window treatments. You know? You know, window painting.

I mean, you know, there's this little cottage industry of painting windows. You know? And they're not all bad. I mean, there's some really good artwork out there. You know, talking about public art and, you know, a lot of this stuff.

So, you know, there's that. You know, in terms of, you know, are there specific zoning or muni code regulations? You know, well, let me let me go back and and and from what I from what we just heard. For a very long time, and as you well know, for a very long and, you know, Paul knows, for a very long time, we've had this ongoing discussion every time a development comes to us as to, you know, whether or not to have street level retail. I mean, we have seen some serious fights on the on the Deus when it came I mean, the Ford site, I mean, you know, I thought mayor Sweeney was gonna have a heart attack when we, you know, no.

It was the I think it was the Chevrolet when when we approved all those, on Dollar Street. You know, we there's no there you know, there's no streets there's no street level commercial there. And I think he I think he sort of gave up on the argument because we said anything face admission will be street level, but everything on Dollar Street anyway, my point is is, you know, how relevant today given just the whole change in retail? I mean, you know, should we be fighting for, you know, street level retail? I mean I I mean, look around.

808, you know, 802 or whatever, a street. I mean anyway, you know, Sohei or Sohei. So, anyways, I guess, you know, do we need to, like, look at our own, you know, codes around street level, you know, zonies? You know? Because that it's it's chain you know? It seems like when we do get it, you know, like, the the what what the the the French bakery? Paris think it'd Yeah. Paris Baguette. I mean, when we do get street level, you know, something, it's great. You know? But

But, I mean, there's parking challenges. And

Yeah. I know. I know. But You know?

But

My my my mom my mom lives behind she lives Union City BART, Dakota, Union City BART, all those homes that are, you know, east of the BART Station. And none of those street level and they've been built now for almost twenty years, and not one of those shells is filled. You know? And it's you know, Hippie Brew was there, and then it closed at Ewan. So I guess maybe we need to start looking looking at that.

You know? And then are there other topics related to supporting behavior businesses? And, you know, I I think the you know, you know, I wanna say, you know, I wanna say not you know, other topics other than, like, you know, streamlining and permitting. I mean, that's why getting these you know, getting the doors open, getting them you know, I don't know how fast it's gonna take the building across the street, but, you know, but, anyways, I I think that the streamlining and and and permitting on it is great because that's the that has been the number one issue we get. Whether it's true or not I mean, I know there's you know, I I know sometimes, you know, people just like to say it because that's made for us that that's all they know to complain about.

But there are there have been some cases where the permitting process has just completely fallen apart for whatever reason, and I'm not blaming or pointing finger. It was it was before you. But but, you know, there there have been some cases where I have seen some serious you know? So I I think, you know, what you're doing here, I mean, if we can if we can be the BFFs for, you know, businesses, I think that would be great. That's pretty much

I would say, strengthen the business concierge program to work better with the fire department and planning. I feel like you all are the trifecta of making sure that we're attracting businesses, but also getting businesses to understand what kind of city we want to have that's safe, that's, you know, fire safe, you know, other kind of safety, but also what we would like to see in our community to look great. And I think you all have the idea of what all the council members are interested in seeing downtown and other parts of the city. So I think you all are on the same page of what what we all want to look at, but, figure out how to get them there faster, would would be great. And and also realizing that sometimes it is on the business too.

They they might not have the most sophisticated designer. So how do we help them if they don't have that designer? And then we have to also recognize that, if it's if it's a it's easier when the use is already there. So if the use is not there, then we gotta spend a little more time on it. But I I think if we could try to figure that out, that'd be great.

I would also say that, yes, I did mention standards, for hours. And I know it's not a mall, so we it's only something it's only so much we can do there, but maybe it's something that we look at as part of their conditions of approval. If that's something you can control within that, yep, you can't control it at the code level. Unconventional building materials, given in in light of the the other item, we need to start looking at what the industry is trending towards versus what we're used to reviewing. So I would say that should be looked at.

I would say I actually have brought this up with former council members and other folks that have talked about we need to have retail at the bottom. The problem is is that Hayward is not there yet transportation wise to demand that. Like, we don't have we don't have BART stops every other street to kinda demand our housing to have so much retail at the bottom, unfortunately, and we only have a 162,000 residents. We don't have millions and millions of residents that can support all this retail with our residents. Like, I've been arguing this ever since on planning commission where we're like, you have to have retail on the bottom.

We're like, do we I actually feel like the building could actually use a day care center more than more retail. It could use coworking space that's an amenity for the building versus more retail. It could it could use more living space, more entertainment space, and that's what I'm seeing. When you go to Dublin and other areas, they're not all of them don't have retail at the bottom, but the benefit is they have more community amenities. And that's what's attracting a lot of these places because the units the the apartment units are so small, they need those other living amenities.

And, also, they wanna entertain. If they can't entertain in their apartment, they wanna be able to to rent those spaces in order to be entertained. And, also, one of the things that as a city, we always hear complaints about is, like, I need more meeting space. Mhmm. This is a way for us to do that versus adding more retail. So I I think if we could figure that out, that would be great. Public art as an asset, making it easier for folks who wanna bring in public art. Also, if they wanna include it as part of their project, be part of the conditions of approval. Agree. A lot of things are going online.

So, yes, we probably do need to look at retail. Herb appeal, I don't know what we can demand if this is demanded because it it's getting pretty bad. Like, it's I'm seeing even even a new selfie development, brand new, they're using one of the retail cases as storage. So it looks it's it's it's like boxes, and and you have the beautiful pair of spigot. You have a nice hair salon where they have single owner studios, which I think is a great idea, by the way.

You have there there's activity happening. There's a there's, like, soup like a soup maker Yeah. There. And then you have this the storage that just totally disrupts the flow of activity that's happening development, then you can tell that the owner is actually trying to keep development to be nice, and you have this owner who's just using it as storage. So, yeah, it's just totally disruptive.

So I don't know how what you can do for window coverings, carpet fill when it comes to that, but it's also a nuisance because if you have this stuff just as storage and it doesn't look nice, that's when you have some of the criminal activity, and then it's a nuisance to staff. It's a nuisance to HPD. So I don't know what you can do about that. And then also figuring out, can they host pop ups? If it's not gonna if they can't bring a retailer in there, can they say this is gonna be a pop up area where we'll rotate by six retailers over the year and with that count?

I don't know.

And parking. So I brought up Paris Baguette only because they it's a it was a lot of activity. Every time I go in there, there's a lot of people. It's great, but then we hear complaints about the parking. I think there's plenty of parking.

Every time I go, there's parking, but I think the Hayward resident is used to having a sea of parking in front of a cafe. And this area is more urban, so I don't know what we can do when we look at certain uses because that's a pretty large footprint for a cafe. So maybe it's looking, hey. Maybe you should think about partnering with this this parking lot across the street or just recognize you're not gonna get this parking if you build this because, like, just identify upfront. We looked we looked at where your footprint's gonna be.

We imagine you're gonna get this much foot traffic. You are building in a really large development. They you're not gonna be we a city, we don't own all the parking lots in Hayward, so you can't, like, complain to us about parking. So I don't know what it is we can do about supporting the business when they are trying to, you know, expand or open, and they're not gonna get that that level of support when it comes to working on the other side of that ribbon cutting because, yeah, that's what we're kinda dealing with right now. I don't think if there's anything else.

Oh, more entertainment downtown. Yes. Figuring out what we can do outdoors in a systematic way and not I'm seeing I'm seeing a lot of I'm seeing a lot of pop ups, a lot of vendors, but not sure how we can corral it, I guess, in a way that's gonna be something that can benefit the city. So I know that San Francisco has, like, this new entertainment zone downtown. They're doing something once a month.

Is there something that in our regulations that we can support things like that would be helpful, and maybe we won't see things kinda sprawling all over the city. Not sure. But I would say look at that as well. Yeah. That's it for me.

Okay. I'd like to close the item

and move on to,

future meeting topics.

Yes. I just have one. Let me see. It's not okay. I would say, I would like to hear from the DHIA on just what what are some things not necessarily that what you all are working on. Fine. Good job. Welcome. Thank you. Welcome to Hailey. Welcome to Hailey. That's something that you all, like, have to report out, but, actually, what's going to be helpful for you all to be successful? Like, Like, what can we do as a city to make DHIA successful? Okay. I I would be interested on hearing that, whether it's city council, another department.

I'm also interested in looking at any, this isn't just for VHI, but this is actually for staff. Looking at our spaces, our plazas, particularly Heritage Plaza, of how can we use those plazas to actually help economic development versus just having the space? I know that there's a certain department that manages the plaza. Sure how active it is. And if there's a if there's a different path, we can activate it. More would be So

If there is no more, I'd like to move on to, committee member staff for public announcements or staff announcement.

We have staff announcements. If you have any announcements for us there, can include. Okay. Alright. So first, we are, sharing that we have the upcoming next job fair, which is a part of our tuition assistance program. It is also meant to supplement our hiring work program. So it's coming up on February 27. As a reminder, we partnered with CSU Eastman and Chabot College to host these, and we connected and invited all of our Hayward employ local employers, especially the, industrial businesses. So right now, we're working to develop the social media social media, and we will share it to you on our council.

There's another job fair Hayward job fair. Is it February 20?

That one at that one I believe that one's a CSU East Bay one.

It's it's boss. It has Hayward on here. Boss and love never fails and a bunch of other people, but it's February 20 ten to two. That's not you all? That's not us. Okay.

I think it might be the library, actually. Okay. If Cal State East Bay is do is is with this, do they not have a logo on the flyer? Or

It's mostly because it's halted at Chabot, so they don't wanna confuse them with what the location is.

Okay.

But it's open to the public, and it'll be widely marketed. It'll be widely marketed to their.

So it's okay to to pick your road then.

Great. So happy to announce that, you know, every year, the East Bay Economic Development Alliance hosts what they call the East Bay Innovation Awards. It's considered the Oscars event for businesses in the East Bay to celebrate innovation and cutting cutting edge technologies that make the East Bay the destination for the most upcoming companies. Happy to report that two Hayward companies are up as finalists. The first is Veeve.

You've I believe you may have heard us spoke about speak about Veeve over the last two years. They are an economic development client. They are building modular they built a factory here, a production factory, a next generation factory that produces modular homes using the latest technologies, three the biggest three d printers you've ever seen that print siding. So they're up as a finalist in the in the coveted manufacturing category. So super excited about that.

And the second company is a very know, flying on the radar startup called Enditex. They are the innovators of Pillbot. Pillbot is a swallowable pill with a camera that that they claimed or they they they want to to kind of replace routine endoscopy. So when you go to the doctor, they shove their camera down your throat, and you have to go in fast and all this stuff, go to a technician. There's a little pill that has cameras controlled by remote controller.

It looks like an Xbox controller, and it'll do high definition video. And, also, it has motors and motors so the technician can navigate your internals to check for things that doctors will look for. This company is actually flying on the radar, but they went viral recently. Look at them. Adam Savage, he made a corporate call from Mythbusters, visited Hayward, did a video, and I think he has, like, eight to 10,000,000 views on that video of him swallowing it at the Hayward facility.

So happy to announce that they we nominated staff and nominated them, and they were selected as a final product or technology category. The event will be held Thursday, March 27, 5PM. It will be, the city is a sponsor of the event as we are annually, so we will, when details come, we will invite mayor and council to attend. But super excited. It's a very visible, award ceremony, like everyone for the East Bay comes. The winners and finalists get all featured in the, San Francisco business times in a special edition. And the night in itself, the emcee will be Gianni Bang, who's a anchor at NBC News. A lot of good a lot of good press to the difference.

So what was this little pill thing?

It sounds great.

It is it is one time use.

Oh, it is one time use. Okay. So because if it's remote, do they yeah.

It is one time use. Okay. Send it to me. Send it to Alright.

I just We had to say it about it. I mean about it. And

they were probably featured in, at CES, which is the consumer electronic show in Vegas last it was, like, last month, I think. Yeah.

It's usually 10. Right?

So last late last year in the fall, you had arranged for an interview for the business San Francisco Business Times, the woman who interviewed me. I never saw the article. Do you have do you have a copy of that article?

I never saw it either. I could I'll if you wanna follow-up and send me your information, I can reach out.

I don't know. I even forget when I did it, but I it was a it was, like, a lengthy interview. Yeah. It was lengthy. It's you know? But, you know, I just never saw the I don't even know. Don't even I don't even forget the woman's name. I even I'd have to look it up.

But I think it was a I I think I'm I think I should correction. I think I did see it. It was a joint your it was a joint article highlighting San Leandro and

Oh, it's yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

So I do remember now. Yeah. We could take it out from here.

Yeah. Maybe. That'd great.

Okay.

Any other oh, oh, there it So

just these are both mentioned throughout the meeting, but we want to flag it on. Alright.

Our look Second.

Super are they all being Correct. Although our next is a new online only pharmacy that provides direct to consumer medicines. I won't go into the jump, but I'm super happy to see an expansion. Actually, one fact, though, this this business is actually in a building in our industrial district that was the home of Shutterfly. So Shutterfly, as you may know Yeah. Is massive print company. They started in Hayward, and this is the building that they moved into years later. And second, as council member Andrew mentioned, super proud to announce that Saurudan company. I'll let Daniel talk about it since this was his year plus long client.

Sure. Yeah. Sourdome company, well, it is one of our business concierge clients. I've been working with them for a year. We help them with everything from site selection, getting them connected to the the people at Lincoln Landing as well as helping them with troubleshooting any type of permitting issues that came up with our partners at DSD. But I think I really wanna highlight that they the owners, the Hare Hare family are actually local Hare residents, first time business owners. They've created 15 jobs here, and majority of the new employees are Hayward residents. Awesome. So we're really happy to have them here. And we had stopped by last Friday when the first day of their soft opening, and they were already completely packed.

They did no advertising anything, so they were able to just kill it on the first day.

Did did I see mac and cheese? There you go.

Yep. And it

was mac and cheese.

Clam chowder, bed bowl. I was actually I ate Okay. First day Wednesday, I ate a sandwich.

Today, I was Sourdough just bowl?

Yeah. Sourdough bowl. And it just so happened when I went for the Javier pastor here, he got the clam chowder salad gel, so I went back today. And I made my order, and I sat down at a table with the owner, asked me to sit on his table, and in comes the founder of Sourdough and Co. Oh. So there's over a 100 Sourdough and Co in the chain, and he came by to check out the the latest gem in the chain. So really, really, really exciting. It's a great great addition. They light it up at night if you try to buy a photo. It is a beacon in Lincoln Landing on that corner. That's great. That's fantastic.

I like the colors. The colors in those blue

I'm not gonna say Daniel's work here. This is what you know?

Yeah. Yeah.

To the I'm initiated. This looks like, oh, okay. It's a the sandwich shop. This is one point five years of concierge efforts to, you know, find in the place, work with the ownership, get them you know, provide that extra enhanced service to get them their permits ready to get them to the system, their partnership with DSD and everything. Everything went very smoothly, but it just does take time to to get this stuff done. Great.

Okay. Great.

No. You guys you guys have been busy. I've seen that h. I've seen that h around. I've seen

that h.

You're getting a lot of miles on that h.

What do you guys call them? The h? You guys got it. We have

a bigger

thing. Okay.

Meeting adjourned. Thank you. Okay. Thank you.