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San Antonio mall up for sale

Original post made on Oct 13, 2017

A strip mall at the bustling corner of El Camino Real and San Antonio Road is now up for sale with an asking price of $42.5 million. The site known as the World Savings Plaza is currently being leased by CVS, Sprouts Farmers Market, Wells Fargo and several other commercial tenants.

Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, October 13, 2017, 9:59 AM

Comments (23)

Posted by swissik
a resident of another community
on Oct 13, 2017 at 7:35 pm

Oh goody, another development. I truly hope that it will be reviewed by a planning commission/city council that displays better taste than those who authorized the monstrosity across on the other corner of ECR/San Antonio. Every time I approach it coming down SA from Los Altos I ask myself who in heaven's name designed this thing. My son says that "they" probably wanted to create another Santana Row but failed miserably. The Payless store's plant and flower display that one used to see was definitely more pleasant than what is there now. Not that the apartment buildings are any better, they look like tenements not quite like those of the former Soviet Union but close.


Posted by LOL
a resident of Old Mountain View
on Oct 13, 2017 at 8:02 pm

[Post removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language]


Posted by The Village where Sears was.
a resident of Blossom Valley
on Oct 13, 2017 at 8:29 pm

And we fought to prevent Home Depot from taking that property. Mountain View promised that this would be the gateway to Mountain View. Instead we got the backdoor and these definitely are not your Santana Row caliber of stores.


Posted by PeaceLove
a resident of Shoreline West
on Oct 14, 2017 at 1:41 am

Agree with swissik: that new San Antonio complex is a developer's wet dream but a gross place to visit or even navagate. No attempt was made *at all* to make it a pleasant destination for local residents. It just seems to be a giant concrete complex designed to maximize the amount of leaseable space while minimizing anything green, or even appealing. Commodification over community.


Posted by m2grs
a resident of another community
on Oct 14, 2017 at 3:25 pm

Los Altos School District should bid the property for a new elementary school. It is at the exactly right location for the new school.


Posted by Los Altos Resident
a resident of another community
on Oct 15, 2017 at 10:21 am

Glad to read this. The strip mall is old and outdated. The discounted alcohol at CVS draws a lot of shady characters. The ADA ramp from El Camino to CVS effectively renders useless a large section of parking lot. Almost anything different would be an improvement. Sprouts is the only redeeming tenant they have.


Posted by IVG
a resident of Rex Manor
on Oct 15, 2017 at 1:38 pm

When I drive down that stretch of San Antonio, I'm proud to live in this city.


Posted by DC
a resident of Sylvan Park
on Oct 15, 2017 at 7:59 pm

For sale but how long are the current lease for? Sprouts just opened a few years ago. 10 -20 year lease? CVS may not be as safe


Posted by Juan
a resident of Rengstorff Park
on Oct 15, 2017 at 9:49 pm

Juan is a registered user.

There is no park in that area, the city of MV should buy the lot and convert it to a public park. Sprouts can stay for the remainder of the lease, everyone else must go.


Posted by Oh My
a resident of another community
on Oct 16, 2017 at 2:08 am

This property is not in one of the incentive areas where the developer can develop either 1.85 FAR or 2.35 FAR by giving perqs to the city. It can't transfer development rights in the LASD deal, so LASD would need to pay the whole $42 million. Its also too small for any sort of school use, and in a LOUSY location on the corner of two massively busy 6 lane roads roads. It's also real close to the spot on the Egan site that has housed an elementary school for the last 16 years, on about 8 acres of land in Los Altos at the corner of 4-lane San Antonio and 2 lane Portola.


Posted by William Hitchens
a resident of Waverly Park
on Oct 17, 2017 at 3:01 pm

@m2grs above. I agree with you. Is there enough room on that parcel for the MV Whisman SD to build its elementary school? Still, do we really want an elementary school at such a heavy traffic intersection? It would be really hazardous for kids on foot and on bikes, and a total traffic nightmare for parents in cars. After writing this, reality has set in and tells me NO. Still, an idea worth examining.


Posted by Night walking hippie
a resident of Old Mountain View
on Oct 17, 2017 at 3:04 pm

I miss Tower Records. Make way for more rainbows. Cast him out, Micheal


Posted by FriendlyNeighbor
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Oct 18, 2017 at 1:53 pm

@m2grs- I think it would be a terrible idea to put a school there. Schools are probably never zoned near commercial areas, although it's ironic that there are preschools at strip malls these days, but then again those are private establishments. Schools should be zoned in an area where traffic doesn't exceed 25mph to ensure that the children have a safe area to walk to and from home as well as in a quiet area to concentrate as well.

Most likely this is going to turn into another modernized strip mall. Light commercial would be best for this area. Why not add a Sonic's Burger? Something new and fresh that the area doesn't already have.


Posted by Los Altos Resident
a resident of another community
on Oct 18, 2017 at 4:53 pm

Why not add a Sonic? Um, how about because it is some of the unhealthiest fast food in the industry? Sonic could set up shop anywhere and they choose to stay out of the core Bay Area because their stores wouldn't do well here. You know where you find lots of Sonics? The central valley.

More than likely, this property is going to be redeveloped for condominiums, just like the rest of El Camino.


Posted by 15 mph school zone
a resident of another community
on Oct 18, 2017 at 5:46 pm

If this became a Los Altos School District School, then would El Camino and San Antonio have to abide by the same 15 mph speed limits 500 feet before and after the at the other Los Altos schools?

The Los Altos school traffic on my street backs up for blocks every morning and worse in the afternoon as cars park and wait for their kids. Whatever happened to school buses?


Posted by MyOpinion
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Oct 18, 2017 at 8:05 pm

Agree with Swissik. The opposite corner is not even close to Santana Row, Can you imagine Safeway as an anchor store at Santana Row? And the retail offerings are a joke, jeweler, mattresses and financial services, how about Anthropologie, Williams Sonoma and Books Inc?


Posted by zap
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Oct 18, 2017 at 8:18 pm

No park? Rengstorff park is a few blocks away and it is huge. There is a dog park there at the new shopping center,and adjacent to it is a small park with grass.

Also the Safeway is a hot spot for the homeless to hang out and use wifi, so they've done more for them than the city has


Posted by zap
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Oct 18, 2017 at 8:21 pm

...oh and there are also two smaller parks, one on Del Medio with a playground and a bigger one with playground at California and Ortega...


Posted by Bob
a resident of another community
on Oct 19, 2017 at 10:26 pm

[Post removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language]


Posted by Not LOL
a resident of Monta Loma
on Oct 19, 2017 at 11:33 pm

[Post removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language]


Posted by Out of State
a resident of another community
on Oct 20, 2017 at 11:03 am

Traveled out there for many years on business. Always enjoyed the food court at the mall (1980). I couldn't wait to get to San Antonio Hobby. Sad to see everything changing.


Posted by Juan
a resident of Rengstorff Park
on Oct 20, 2017 at 5:54 pm

Juan is a registered user.

Rengstorff Park is not a few blocks away, it's nearly a mile away! Also thanks to the non-enforcement of existing laws, Rengstorff Park is quickly becoming a park where nobody wants to visit due to rampant sewage dumping, drug use and prostitution.


Posted by lan
a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood
on Oct 20, 2017 at 6:55 pm

lan is a registered user.

Mountain View has always had a bit of an identity crisis. As hard as this city tries, it has not yet developed a clear, cohesive landscape. Rather, the city continuously accommodates to what seems most accessible, at the moment.


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