COUNCIL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES – February 24, 2022
CALL TO ORDER: The Regular meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m.
ATTENDANCE (September 2021-July 2022):
Committee Member
Present
2/24/2022
All Meetings
Year to Date
Meetings Mandated
By Resolution
Present
Absent
Present
Absent
Council Member Salinas
Π
3 0
3 0
Council Member Wahab
Π
3 0
3 0
Council Member Andrews
Π
3 0
3 0
OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE:
Kelly McAdoo, City Manager; Jennifer Ott, Assistant City Manager; Sara Buizer, Deputy Director of Development Services; Paul Nguyen, Economic Development Manager; Catherine Ralston, Economic Development Specialist; Suzanne Philis, Senior Secretary; Todd Falduti, Southland Mall Sr. General Manager, Asset Management; Kim Huggett, Hayward Chamber of Commerce, Paul Hodges, HARD Board of Directors; Edward Bogue; Rachel McCown; HWD; Carlamill
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Hayward Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Kim Huggett gave an update of Chamber events and activities including the 78th Annual Chamber Gala happening at Life Chiropractic College West on March 26th at 4pm.
Council Member Wahab asked Mr. Huggett if he’d received any feedback from merchants regarding the City’s consideration of closing some downtown streets to cars and putting tables and chairs out for retail patrons. Mr. Huggett said there was support for widening sidewalks and putting out tables, but downtown business owners on Main Street were unanimously against closing the street. He cited the success of the sidewalk reconfiguration in front of Casa Del Toro. City Manager McAdoo assured the Committee that Public Works staff would continue to do outreach.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 27, 2022 A motion to approve minutes from the January 27, 2022 Regular Meeting was made by Council Member Andrews and seconded by Council Member Wahab. The minutes were unanimously approved.
A REPORT FROM BROOKFIELD PROPERTIES RETAIL GROUP ON THE ECONOMIC HEALTH, CURRENT TRENDS, AND FUTURE OF SOUTHLAND MALL (Oral report only) Economic Development Manager Paul Nguyen introduced Todd Falduti, Southland Mall Sr. General Manager, Asset Management who gave the presentation.
Council Member Andrews asked for an assessment of safety at the mall. Mr. Falduti said that crime happened everywhere and noted the National Retail Federation tracked organized retail crime and reported in 2015, 20-25% of retailers estimated their average loss was $1,000. In 2019, he said, that number had climbed to 50% of retailers and today, he thought it would be even higher. As tough as losses were to any business, he said, they were not worth any lives.
Mr. Falduti noted that Southland Mall had a gun-detection dog as a permanent safety feature starting that Saturday. Word gets out, he said, and in three months any guns would disappear. He said he wanted to shift shoppers’ perception, so they felt safer. He noted the security company hired was better quality than the one used for the trial period.
Council Member Andrews asked about coordination of parking lot security. Mr. Falduti said only Sears and Round 1 had exterior private security, although he noted he had asked several owners of mall jewelry stores to have armed escorts for their workers.
Council Member Andrews asked if outward facing retail and food options would be part of the parking lot revitalization. Mr. Falduti noted Shiekh Shoes and Forever 21 by Lot 1 already had direct access and although he had two restaurants teed up for the outward facing corner of Entry 4, when he couldn’t secure the third vendor, the other two walked. He noted Hayward Police was now being considered for one of the four spots. Mr. Falduti said the American One wall was the next planned area for improvement with some junior retail boxes.
Council Member Andrews asked if there might be other ways to activate the wall in the meantime and she suggested “Instagrammable” images. Mr. Falduti explained that right now those are the back rooms to existing tenants so flipping them around wasn’t possible. He also noted that Brookfield’s areas of full control of parking lots were limited by existing leases. He said the most prominent area Brookfield had total control over was in front of JC Penny facing the freeway along La Playa.
Regarding events in the area facing the freeway, Mr. Falduti mentioned that when he oversaw both Newpark Shopping Center and Southland Mall, Newpark wanted events but couldn’t draw them. Now he said he was trying to attract all events to Hayward.
Council Member Andrews encouraged Mr. Falduti to focus attracting entertainment venues for kids and young adults that didn’t serve alcohol. She said she’d like to see a selfie experience with no alcohol.
Mr. Falduti said he had a selfie vendor during the holidays but because Custom Kings was doing so well it expanded to that space. He said he was thinking about where an escape room or laser tag could locate at the mall.
Council Member Wahab thanked Mr. Falduti for the update and noted the mall had changed and improved. She mentioned that a mall in Campbell had been converted to a housing development and she asked if there had been any discussions about housing at Southland. She also asked what impact the new housing development at the former Burlington Coat Factory site might have on the mall.
Mr. Falduti he didn’t know if the new DR Horton housing would make a difference either way, but liked the walkability of the location.
Mr. Falduti said according to the National Retail Foundation, 25% of shopping malls would be gone by 2032. He said he didn’t think that was a bad thing and the “Live, Work, Play” model was working in high density areas. Mr. Falduti said housing could be a component at Southland, noting the mall was 29 acres near a major freeway, but under the airport flight path. He said Brookfield definitely wanted to repurpose the Sears building and he supposed condos could be built over new restaurants but acknowledged that wasn’t his area of expertise. Brookfield had experts and they would partner with the mall when that time came, he said.
Council Member Wahab said she wanted diverse restaurant choices and plenty of parking, noting the recent protests a Valley Fair in San Jose.
Mr. Falduti mentioned that the mall had an additional 100,000 square feet of space under the mall that could be used for parking, but noted it wasn’t needed yet. He said the most common complaint he received about Southland was the poor signage marking the entrances to the mall.
Council Member Wahab mentioned that she had family members who had retail space at a mall, and when they were first getting started there was no transparency to the cost of becoming a tenant. With eCommerce growing so quickly, she asked how the mall could incentivize entrepreneurs to not only stay in Hayward, but open brick and mortar locations at the mall.
Mr. Falduti said when he first started working with malls, leases were true triple net. He acknowledged tenants just wanted to know the cost per square foot based on base rent and operating costs with only insurance rates and real estate taxes changing without notice. He said in 2018, the property tax on the mall was $1.8 million, in 2020 $3.05 million. He didn’t have any control over that, he said, and his tenants had to deal with the reconciliation of those costs. He said he tried to be transparent with new tenants and told them about additional costs to expect including trash collection and internet service.
Council Member Wahab asked Mr. Falduti to let the City know how it could help including with things like internet infrastructure. Mr. Falduti said Brookfield just replaced the mall’s fiber backbone. Council Member Wahab said she’d like to see workspaces in the mall so people could work, walk, and shop.
Council Member Wahab cautioned about bringing any patrol dogs into the mall noting a recent incident at a mall in Brentwood. She did advocate for staff escorts to their cars at night.
Mr. Falduti explained the patrol dog at Southland Mall was only temporary and noted while on duty was able to stop a fight that involved six people. He noted the dog arriving on Saturday would be gun-detection only and agreed that the mall was too crowded to have a dog that bites defensively.
Council Member Wahab asked Mr. Falduti to please be sure to share any retail incentives being offered with Council Members so they could pass on the information. She also encouraged Mr. Falduti to incorporate public art into the mall as much as possible.
Regarding incentives, Mr. Falduti said the American Dream was still alive at the mall with immigrant retailers thriving with a make or break it work ethic. He said the mall was set up to grow with new retailers by having smaller rent structures where they could start. He said Brookfield was more than happy to assist a business coming in with a new concept. That was the kind of success story they wanted to be part of with the Empower Program—to assist new businesses with coaching and walking them though the process of starting up.
Council Member Salinas said as a shopper it was fun to see businesses move from a cart to a kiosk to retail space rather than to online. Mr. Falduti mentioned that that was how Shiekh Shoes started and now the owner had hundreds of stores. He was just a small owner operator out there hustling, he said.
Council Member Salinas mentioned he saw the dog patrolling the mall with a guard in full gear and he remembered it looked really menacing and kind of shocking. Mr. Falduti said they were working to find the right handler and to determine the best way to interact with the public and still be able to deescalate situations.
Regarding Southland’s interior improvement White and Bright Program, Council Member Salinas said he had noticed a big difference and the mall looked great. He said he would now like to see the mall adopt a theme that could be carried out through the mall. Since the mall was located next to the airport, he suggested either an aviation or transportation theme.
Mr. Falduti asked Council Members if they remembered when the mall had a big bird cage. He acknowledged that the mall needed some pops of color and points of interest. He also noted that all soft seating was pulled at the start of the pandemic and that rather than bringing back the old seating he was pushing for approval of new.
Council Member Salinas said he liked the nostalgic vibe of Southland and folks who moved away from Hayward asked if the bird cage was still there. He mentioned that the previous mall manager made Southland t-shirts and that he wanted one. Mr. Falduti said the mall was old—no, vintage—and that he’d like to make other improvements in addition to the new soft seating and public art.
Council Member Salinas mentioned the education market and noted when he asked his students what they did over the weekend, they never mention Southland. He asked how the City could capture that market, and agreed with Council Member Andrews that more activities and options were needed for teenagers. He suggested Friday night events like a DJ in the food court or something that made the mall a safe destination.
Mr. Falduti said he’d looked at a lot of options for youth-oriented attractions at the mall including in the underground area, but finding a successful use was hard. He noted teens were very different from college-aged students. He said he would kill for a Lego Store, because he’d love to hold a building contest, and a Canadian Goose store where customers could try on a jacket and step into the blizzard room to see if it kept them warm. He was always hunting for the kind of retailers that would attract the curious even if they didn’t buy anything, he said.
Mr. Falduti mentioned that a large sports memorabilia store was coming in where Dick’s Sporting Goods was located. He was also talking to traveling museum experiences and exhibits like the Human Body, which would attract college-age visitors.
Council Member Salinas said he would love to see a rooftop restaurant on the old Sears building because of all the things you could see including the airport and the freeway.
Council Member Salinas thanked Mr. Falduti for the update and said neighbors had expressed concern to him about safety and noise from concerts. Mr. Falduti explained that the Sears site was not under his control but that he was working with the owner to install better lighting. He said the goals of the community were his goals.
Council Member Andrews thanked Council Member Wahab for mentioning public art. She also asked Mr. Falduti to send her artwork for the Empower Program in a format she could share on Instagram and to consider promoting the program at a Chamber of Commerce event.
FUTURE MEETING TOPICS AS OF FEBRUARY 24, 2022
Economic Development Manager Nguyen highlighted upcoming reports including a sales tax leakage report in March and a vacant property update from Code Enforcement.
Council Member Salinas asked staff to research where college students were spending their dollars.
COMMITTEE MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REFERRALS
Economic Development Manager Nguyen and Economic Development Specialist Ralston highlighted new businesses including El Vozqe, Habibi’s Birria, Club SC, Brick by Brick, Falafel Flame, Tacos El Gordo, Arteaga’s Food Center, and the new La Victoria Taqueria.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 6:26 p.m.
Hayward Council Economic Development Committee
Regular Meeting Minutes
February 24, 2022
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