Developer offers new plan for bayfront

ALBANY
Developer offers new plan for bayfront
45-acre parcel is adjacent to Golden Gate Fields track

By Patrick Hoge, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, October 14, 2005

A well-known Los Angeles shopping mall developer unveiled plans Thursday for waterfront retail stores and restaurants on land next to the Golden Gate Fields racetrack in Albany.

The vision put forward by Rick Caruso in partnership with the track owner, Magna Entertainment Corp. of Canada, calls for a pedestrian mall bordered by two rows of structures of various heights, some up to four stories, and waterfront shopping and restaurants over more than eight acres.

Most of the rest of the 45-acre parcel, much of which is covered by a largely unused parking lot, would become open space and parkland, including a 2.25-acre park atop Fleming Point, Caruso said. All development would be at least 200 feet from the shoreline.

Caruso owns Caruso Affiliated, which has developed high-profile projects in Southern California featuring pedestrian "town centers,'' notably the Grove, next to the historic Farmer's Market on the corner of Third Street and Fairfax Avenue in the heart of Los Angeles.

He said the Albany proposal is the product of 10 months of meetings with hundreds of Albany residents and officials about the property's future.

"It reflects the input they have given us for the kind of project they would like to have,'' said Caruso. "We're going to develop a project this community is going to be excited about having.''

Under voter-approved law in Albany, the development Caruso wants to build must be approved by voters because it would require rezoning. As a result, Caruso has hired as a consultant Dion Aroner, a former state assemblywoman from Berkeley, and his firm has been hosting numerous gatherings, even in people's houses, to solicit opinions.

Despite the plan's open space elements, Caruso's proposal was greeted coldly by some local environmentalists, who think that the racetrack will eventually close and that most of the more than 100-acre property should be converted to parkland, with approximately 15 acres of development.

"We think this is a terrible use of shoreline property,'' said former Albany Mayor Robert Cheasty, president of Citizens for the Eastshore State Park. The park occupies land on both sides of the racetrack.

Caruso countered that he thinks Cheasty represents a "far minority'' of opinion in Albany.

Thursday was the second time in several years Magna Entertainment has unveiled a development plan for the property, which features spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The last proposal, which vanished after withering criticism from Cheasty and others, came in 2002, when the company proposed adding nearly 1 million square feet of new construction in a project called Rancho San Antonio.

That plan would have included two hotels, an events center, restaurants, a parking structure, retail space, and an expanded facility for watching and betting on televised horse races from around Northern California.

Caruso's new proposal would include 450,000 square feet of retail, 150-200 apartments and possibly an 80-room hotel. A multi-level parking garage would sit next to the eight-acre development on the east side of the property.

E-mail Patrick Hoge at phoge@sfchronicle.com.

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