Reimagine the of Downtown with a New Retail and Urban Living Experience
Read the facts about the project. If you have additional questions, please contact us.
According to the City’s vision, downtown Burbank is the ideal location for additional new housing in the city. As explained in the City’s General Plan, “Burbank 2035,”
“Downtown Burbank is the civic, shopping, dining, and entertainment center of the city and is also a major employment center. The area has direct and convenient access to public transit including buses and trains, and the compact nature of the street grid facilitates walking and easy pedestrian access. As a community center with transit access, it is appropriate for Downtown to have a higher allowable intensity of development than other areas of the community. The area is well buffered from residential neighborhoods, so any potential effects of higher intensity development on these neighborhoods are minimized.”
Our proposed plan is an extension of the City’s vision with the addition of an open-air pedestrian plaza and new urban living options designed to infuse the area with a 24-hour presence of residents who will live, work, and create a sustainable community around the center.
Crown Realty & Development, in conjunction with Dallas, Texas-based CAPREF Manager, LLC have reached an agreement to redevelop Burbank Town Center as a revitalized “heart” of downtown. Central to the vision is the addition of an open-air pedestrian plaza and new urban living options designed to infuse the area with a 24-hour presence of residents who will live, work, and create a sustainable community around the center.
The first phase of the project will entail extensive renovation of the mall by CAPREF Manager, the mall’s new owner, with a focus on fashion and family entertainment-style retail. The Magnolia Boulevard entrance will be opened up, creating a new gateway to the existing business corridor.
We’re restructuring the retail mix to include more fashion tenants, to be positioned on the second floor, and placing entertainment concept retail tenants on a reorganized third floor--these major changes along with extensive remodeling and renovations should draw a lot more visitors to the mall from Burbank and beyond, making it a true community asset and keep our tax dollars in our city.
A joint venture between CAPREF and Crown Realty & Development will focus on the IKEA site, proposing a variety of high-quality housing options over retail use. For the near-term, developers are proposing 765 multi-family units at 600 N. San Fernando Blvd. on the former IKEA site and 70 for-sale units at 800 N. San Fernando Blvd., bringing new housing stock to the most needed area of the city and helping solve Burbank’s mounting housing crisis.
Plans include approximately 40,000 sf of fresh retail tenants, an expansive outdoor plaza featuring pedestrian walkways, landscaping and open space for community events like farmer’s markets and outdoor movie screenings. Developers also hope to add an ice skating rink to the plaza.
We see this as an opportunity to make Burbank Town Center the new bustling heart of downtown where Burbank’s workforce can find attractive housing near their jobs and where families can enjoy a friendly, comfortable, safe and fun atmosphere. Our goal is to create a walkable, central gathering place for the community while preserving Burbank’s unique character, small-town charm, and excellent quality of life.
Future plans could include an additional 259 units along Third Street at the current Office Depot site and a 200-room hotel on the west side of N. San Fernando Blvd--both subject to future market conditions. Office Depot is currently in a long-term lease so the site may maintain its current retail use for some time to come.
The City will prepare a thorough traffic study for the project to assess any potential impacts, which will be further analyzed and addressed in the City’s environmental analysis. From a planning perspective, the addition of housing at Burbank Town Center locates homes in one of the most transit-rich areas of the City with multiple alternatives to driving available within a quarter- to half-mile radius, including the Metrolink Station, planned bike lanes, and various regional and local bus lines. In fact, according to Walk Score, a nationally recognized source used to assess walkability, the project site is scored as a “Walker’s Paradise” where daily errands do not require a car. It also locates housing near employment centers, schools, major employers, City facilities, and the 400+ businesses located in Downtown Burbank. The planned improvements to the mall will support the various travel options by transit, bicycle, or foot with the new construction. Our vision combines residential uses combined with retail uses, enabling residents to grocery shop and run errands from their doorstep.
The Burbank Unified School District is fully supportive of this project. Enrollment at the District has been trending downward the last several years, even with its policy of open enrollment for Burbank-based businesses. While some schools in our district are at capacity, the vast majority are well below where they should be. When enrollment suffers, so do programs. We need more students to provide the best possible education experience to the community. Burbank Unified School District also has over 1,000 employees who can’t find a home in the city.
