Stalled Fremont mall gets buyers, with a tech park idea in the works
FREMONT >> The site of a long-stalled Asian-themed retail mall in Fremont has been sold to a pair of buyers, including one developer that is eyeing a metamorphosis of the property into a tech-oriented industrial center.
The project could bring at least 300 new permanent jobs to Fremont, according to a presentation that Scannell Properties, the developer of the proposed industrial complex, made in mid-march to Fremont city officials.
The Globe mall at the corner of Albrae Street and Stevenson Boulevard was born as a grand concept of a mall with multiple villages that exemplified different facets of Asian culture.
But the economic destruction unleashed by the Great Recession eventually torpedoed those plans and only a section of the retail and restaurant complex was ever developed.
Now, two buyers have emerged for the site as plans emerge for a redevelopment of a big section of the property.
Scannell Properties has paid about $52.5 million to buy four of the six parcels at the site, according to documents filed on April 4 with the Alameda County Recorder's Office.
Indianapolis-based Scannell, through an affiliate, obtained the parcels in an all-cash transaction. The seller was APIC The Globe, a real estate firm that had secured full city approval for the Asian-themed mall concept, the county documents show.
Scannell obtained 22.5 acres with its purchase,
county documents show.
The buyer for two small parcels that together total 2.5 acres was a group of Milpitas-based buyers led by John Wynn Nguyen and Tuyet Minh Le, according to state and county public documents.
The Nguyen and Le group paid $11.1 million for the smaller section of the property. I Shanghai Delight restaurant operates on this smaller site.
APIC The Globe also was the seller in the transaction completed by Nguyen's and Le's group and provided a $7.8 million loan to the buyer to help finance the purchase, Alameda County documents show.
Scannell is eyeing the development of 397,000 square feet of industrial space that would emerge through the construction of three buildings at 40525 Albrae St.
The developer believes
that the project could produce significant community benefits for Fremont, including hundreds of jobs.
Scannell Properties said in the March 15 presentation to the city that it anticipates the new project could bring “300 to 650-plus permanent jobs to support tenant operations in manufacturing or distribution.”
Plus, 350 to 400 temporary jobs would be created during the anticipated 11-month construction period, according to the Scannell assessment.
These temporary and permanent jobs could bolster merchants in the vicinity.
“Neighboring retailers, which are largely restaurant-based, would reap the benefit of potentially 650 daily employees patronizing their businesses,” Scannell stated in the presentation.