Rancho Cucamonga Victoria Gardens Shopping District

Proposed Main Street

Highlights Plan Description Regional Master Plan Site Plan Architect's Renderings Developers   Forest City Devel.   Lewis Investment Co.

Plan Highlights

The following photos and description of the proposed Rancho Cucamonga Regional Shopping District were unveiled July 19, 2000 by The City of Rancho Cucamonga, Forest City Development California, Inc, and Lewis Investment Company, LLC.

• More of a "Downtown" or "Main Street" feel
• Includes Major Retail, Retail, Restaurants, Theaters, Office, Civic, Cultural and Professional uses
• Village Green and Town Square
• Lush Landscaping
• Facilitates outdoor Fairs and Shows
• Expected to serve over 450,000 people with average household income exceeding $53,000
• 3,000 new jobs
• $5 million in added tax revenue
• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed January 23, 2001
• Opening late summer 2003 (approval pending)

Plan Description

This is a unique new "main street retail district" for Rancho Cucamonga. Covering 159 acres, the open air project will offer a mixture of regional and neighborhood retail shopping, restaurant and entertainment, professional services, civic and cultural uses in a main street district setting designed to make it a destination location for the entire Inland Empire.

Housing will also be located within walking distance of the main commercial, public and civic uses. Field-Paoli Architects, a San Francisco based firm specializing in creating new "Main Street" developments, is doing the conceptual architectural and planning design for the project.

The proposed project will serve the rapidly growing city of Rancho Cucamonga and the surrounding Inland Empire region. The trade area for the project is estimated to include over 450,000 people with average household incomes exceeding $53,000. In add ition, because of its excellent location and accessibility from all of the major freeways within San Bernardino County, it is expected to be a destination location for over 3.6 million potential shoppers and families throughout the Inland Empire region.

The proposed new Victoria Gardens retail district is the keystone of the planned development of over 400 acres of vacant land located between Base Line Road and Foothill Boulevard (former Route 66) and Interstate-15 Freeway and the Day Creek Channel. For the past several months, Forest City and Lewis have been working closely with neighboring land-owners including American Beauty Homes to help design a comprehensive master plan for the entire area incorporating the retail district along with new parks and restored wetlands, an elementary school, and a variety of housing types. In addition, the plan provides for a linear greenbelt and parkway connecting a large village green and a central plaza located to the north. The village green will include water features such as fountains and streams while the parkway will have walking trails, arbors and landscaping potentially including demonstration gardens or vineyards.

The proposed 147 acre, 1.3 million square foot project represents a distinct departure from existing practices in the shopping center development industry and, most notably, from its competition in the surrounding region. The project will have a mix of regional and neighborhood serving retail stores, restaurants, cafes, lifestyle uses including bookstores, professional offices, housing and civic uses. Several nationally known major department stores and other retailer tenants will anchor the district.

In addition to providing a variety of merchandise like men and women's fashion apparel and daily wear, children's clothing, jewelry, sporting goods, home furnishings and appliances, and other so called "hard" and "soft" goods traditionally found in enclosed regional malls, the new district will also have neighborhood serving retail uses including an upscale grocery and drug store, dry cleaners, fast food, and other retail convenience stores. These uses will all be built along a setting that is more reminiscent of a traditional "main street" with interesting streetscapes exhibiting individually designed store fronts, wider sidewalks, street furniture, and more landscaping including several pocket parks. In addition, second story office space will be built above portions of the street retail for medical and dental, accountants, lawyers and other professional uses. The project also includes sit-down and fine dining restaurants, cafes and coffeehouses with outdoor seating situated around the village green. The use of lush landscaping, awnings, canopies, sun shelters, misting systems and other architectural elements will serve to help shield patrons of the shopping district from extreme weather conditions.

In addition, as found in many other time-honored retail districts, the proposed project will also include civic and cultural uses. These uses include a public safety satellite facility (provided free to the City), library branch (40,000 sq. ft.), and a community multipurpose facility and space for community theater and arts programming. The emphasis will be on the community and providing an atmosphere for people and families to stroll, shop, enjoy fine dining, participate in civic and cultural events. Activities such as festivals on the green, concerts, parades, open air "farmer's" markets, car shows, arts and craft street fairs, community talent shows and other activities will constantly be programmed to keep the shopper/visitor entertained and interested in repeatedly coming back to the shopping district.

Over the last several months the developers and the City have been engaged in extensive negotiations on the financial terms of the project. These negotiations have resulted in the preparation of a milestone MOU agreement which provides the developer with the time needed to continue with the remaining steps required before the project can be built. These steps are anticipated to take slightly over a year to complete, and include processing zoning applications, conducting environmental reviews, securing additional binding commitments from prospective tenants, and completing infrastructure financing arrangements for the project and the surrounding land area.

The MOU also sets out the terms under which the developer can purchase the City-owned site and the mechanisms by which the City can share in up to $13 million from profits generated by the project. It also provides that the City will pay up to $2 million from project generated revenues for improvements to the approximately 4-acre City-owned public park and plaza spaces located in the heart of the project. Once all the steps and remaining financial issues have been finalized, the City and the developer would be required to enter into a Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA) which would specify the rights and binding obligations of the developer and City with respect to the ultimate development of the project. The proposed project is scheduled to open in late 2003. Further expansion of the project will take place over a 7 to 10 year period.

Once built, the project is expected to generate significant economic and other benefits for the City. These include a combined total of over $5 million per year in new retail sales, property, and business license taxes. The project will also generate approximately 3,000 new permanent and part-time jobs. In addition, it is anticipated the project will act as a catalyst for additional economic development of a mixture of uses on surrounding land in the area.

About Forest City Development

Forest City Development is a nationally recognized regional shopping center and housing developer headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio with regional offices in New York, Boston, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The 79-year old company owns and manages over $3.1 Billion of properties including over 16 million square feet of retail space in shopping centers and over 30,000 apartment units located throughout the country. The recently opened Promenade at Temecula Regional Mall, as well as the Galleria at South Bay in Redondo Beach, and the Antelope Valley Mall in Palmdale, California are part of the company's portfolio. In addition, the company has built and operates the Galleria at Sunset Regional Mall in Henderson, Nevada, and the Showcase Mall featuring the World of Coca Cola, Ethel M Candy M & M's Academy, Gameworks and United Artist Theaters which is located on the Fabulous Las Vegas Strip. The company is actively developing projects throughout the West Coast including San Francisco, San Jose, Denver, Pasadena, and several other locations.

About Lewis Investment Company

Lewis Investment Company, LLC is based in Upland, California, is part of the Lewis group of companies and is one of the nation's largest privately held real estate organizations. The Lewis group has earned a reputation as one of the premier community developers in California and Nevada. During its 45-year history, the Lewis group of companies has built more than 56,000 homes and over 7,000 apartment units as well as over 3 million square feet of retail, office and industrial space. The company has a long history of active involvement in Rancho Cucamonga and surrounding communities. It has master planned and built several major residential and retail projects in Rancho Cucamonga including the Del Mar, Evergreen, Montecito and Terra Vista Apartments, as well as the Terra Vista Promenade, Terra Vista Town Center and Town Center Square shopping centers. The Lewis Company has developed approximately 2 million square feet of retail space, 2,500 apartments and 3,500 homes in Rancho Cucamonga and in other areas of the Inland Empire and state.