SUNNYVALE — AMC Theaters has struck a deal to lease space for a 12-screen movie theater in downtown Sunnyvale, a key component for an emerging retail complex in the city, developers said Tuesday.
The theaters would sit atop a Whole Foods Market, which has leased the ground floor of the two-story grocery and entertainment complex at the corner of Murphy and McKinley avenues.
“This is a major step in fostering a thriving and dynamic downtown that supports a mix of strong, locally oriented businesses,” said Deke Hunter, president of Hunter Storm, which is one of the companies involved in developing the property.
STC Venture, an enterprise comprised of Hunter Storm and Sares Regis Group of Northern California, is attempting to build a project that includes the movie theaters, Whole Foods, 350,000 square feet of office space, and up to 650 residential units located above ground-floor retail at the site.
“With this milestone, we are now focused on working with the city and community to complete the downtown,” said David N.P. Hopkins, a senior vice president with Sares Regis Group. “We envision a vibrant, walkable neighborhood which integrates new housing, shops, and jobs with existing infrastructure such as Caltrain and the charm of the existing Murphy Avenue retail.”
The Sunnyvale site was mired in turmoil for years due to financial woes that engulfed prior developer Sand Hill Property. Eventually, Wells Fargo seized the property through a foreclosure.
In September 2015, STC Venture bought the CityLine project site. About a month after that, STC Venture began a partial demolition to clear the way for development.
The deals with Texas-based Whole Foods and Kansas-based AMC Theaters represent major breakthroughs for the site, which once was dominated by a two-story regional mall bounded by Mathilda, Washington, Sunnyvale and Iowa avenues.
Phase one of construction is underway, and includes plans to complete 198 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments with indoor and outdoor amenities — including 24 affordable homes — as well as 85,000 square feet of retail space opening in late 2018.
In addition, STC has submitted conceptual plans for another 94 residential units along Iowa Street, for which the entitlements were approved in 2007. These include 75 one- and two-bedroom apartments and 19 three-bedroom town homes.
“We’re thrilled to welcome AMC Theaters back to Sunnyvale, and know this multiplex theater will be a fantastic addition” to the downtown, Sunnyvale’s Mayor Glenn Hendricks said.
STC Venture believes it’s landed two top-flight companies to anchor the project’s new elements.
“You have a high level of execution of the grocery business from Whole Foods, and it will be interesting to see Amazon’s touch on that,” Hunter said. “With AMC, you have the world leader in the movie theater business, which is in flux.”
AMC and Whole Foods are expected to bolster the other outlets in the retail, dining and entertainment center emerging in downtown Sunnyvale.
“Both of these tenants will interact with and influence the rest of the leasing that will go on in downtown Sunnyvale,” Hunter said.
