Dear Penguin: What about redevelopment of the parking lot behind the JC Penney site? I keep reading that the Lee family has lots of plans up its sleeve, but it’s only referred to in generic terms. — Woodsider
Woodsider:
My development wishlist for that parking lot includes a slick bowling alley, a mile-long bar and a concert hall big enough to host the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But a project like that takes money and connections that I don’t have.
So I bounced my ideas to Bruce Lee, whose family business owns the lot and the former JC Penney site. His wishlist was a little different.
“We could possibly develop 359,000 square feet of new office or mixed-use space on our property,” Lee wrote in an email.
High construction costs and the lengthy approval process were making development decisions tricky, Lee added. However, he indicated that he may lean away from the soft housing market.
“Nothing has been decided,” Lee said.
The good news:
“All the test fits we have done with the consultants have determined that a music hall venue fits well behind the historic JC Penneys facade,” Lee added. “Occupancy of as many as 2,000 could be accommodated.”
Add three to that maximum occupancy for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and I’m happy. Fans of the Polyphonic Spree are just shit out of luck.
Hope this adds to the information already floating out there.
The Penguin
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Bruce Lee? Awesome name, man.
Thanks for the research and the droppings, Penguin! That is a huge piece of land that family is sitting on and I’m guessing they are just waiting for the right tenants or deep pocketed partners to share in the risk of re-developing the site. Ten dollars says once we have an announcement on a music venue (that will stick), then we’ll shortly hear from the Lee family that they are ready to move forward with their plans, or they sold the site to someone who is. Just my hunch, I know nothing in reality.
DMZ wrote:
Yeah, I’m compiling a list of local residents who share names with famous people. So far, I’ve got:
Bruce Lee, real estate developer
Don Johnson, commander of the third police district
It’s a work in progress.
I’ve had dealings with a Tom Collins recently. Not the name of a famous person, exactly, but a famous name none-the-less. As a matter of fact, think I’ve seen his name in some of the blog posts.
Yeah, that works. Now, if there’s a Harvey Wallbanger and Samuel Adams in town, I’d love to meet them!