Hillsdale mall hoping to pick up retail steam again

The timing could have been better, probably a lot better.

In late December, the Hillsdale Shopping Center unveiled a multimillion-dollar renovation that includes attractive restaurants, a high-end 12lane bowling facility, a popular burger joint and a luxury 10-screen movie house, among other customer options.

The fresh construction, 220,000 square feet in total, occupies the footprint of the demolished Sears building/parking area on the north end of the massive San Mateo property that stretches along several blocks on the west side of El Camino Real.

But three months after the grand opening, mandatory health/safety rules shut down the big shopping center as the virus pandemic picked up steam.

Hillsdale, of course, is not alone facing this grim operating dilemma. So are other shopping malls throughout San Mateo County and the rest of the state.

Still, 66-year-old Hillsdale, reinventing itself impressively again as it has in the past, was just starting to pick up fresh steam as the traditional, in-person retail experience continued to be threatened by online shopping.

Adding a bit of salt to the Hillsdale mall’s wounds, Caltrain has closed its Hillsdale depot for much of this year. A new station will be built and located north of the former site.

Officials of the city of San Mateo have to be breathing a sigh of relief after the county’s retail goahead. The town has a vital financial stake in the mall’s success — and the fiscal health of the consumerdriven economy overall.

Taken as a group, the Hillsdale tenants, 125 of them as listed on the mall’s website, are among the most important sources of tax proceeds in that community, which faces a big budget deficit due to the severe economic pain caused by the county’s tough (though slowly easing) regulations to address the feared health consequences of the disease outbreak.

On a related note, the financially challenged corporate parents of two of Hillsdale’s prime anchor stores, Nordstrom and Macy’s, are cutting costs and closing dozens of retail sites.

As of last week, neither company had targeted its Hillsdale store for elimination.

Transparency wins

Even in Silicon Valley, it’s been no secret that far too many of San Mateo County’s public agencies have permitted little or no electronic access to their public meetings — until now.

The virus outbreak has changed that practice dramatically. Today, conducting virtual meetings via the internet is common.

Taxpayers and other interested parties can observe those proceedings with minimal hindrance, provided they understand the technology involved.

County public school districts have been affected most noticeably. For years, trustees could argue that cable TV or internet coverage of their gatherings would be too complex and expensive. They got some pushback in certain cases but managed to stonewall their interested constituents.

Elected policymakers had little taste for opening their deliberations beyond their meeting rooms. But the new reality of self-isolation mandates and health/ safety concerns has forced the issue to the forefront.

In all likelihood, it will be very tough to go back to the previous in-persononly method of handling the public’s business. Full transparency, by all rights, should be here to stay.

For that, we can be thankful.