Plans for Makeover and Expansion of Trancas Center Get First Airing

• Proposal Includes Creation of a Common Area to Try to Encourage Pedestrians to Stay Awhile

BY BILL KOENEKER

Plans for the expansion and remodeling of the Trancas shopping center, a commercial center located on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Trancas Canyon Road, were unveiled this week by Dan Bercu, the owner/ partner of the center now known as the Trancas Country Mart and local architect Doug Burdge. An application for a coastal permit was submitted to city planning officials last week.

Bercu said the remodeling plans, which will include an additional 25,731 square feet of new retail shops west of Trancas Creek and another 11,644 square feet of office and service retail in one building east of the creek in what was formerly the Trancas Riders and Ropers arena, would offer the ambience and style of his similar collaboration at the Brentwood Country Mart.

The shopping center owner emphasized he and his partners would hand pick retail merchants and did not want to include chain stores.

Bercu also talked about how he would attempt to emulate the success of the Malibu Country Mart with its common green and playground creating a focal point for west Malibu residents.

The center owner stressed what would be different is the design of the new buildings, which he said would have a rustic feel and what Burdge described as “East Coast Hamptons” rather than the more traditional Mediterranean. “It is more New England-Connecticut Yankee meets the Wild West,” added Bercu.

Over a half million square feet of the commercially-zoned property would be open space that includes footpaths, an equestrian trail, gardens and picnic areas.

The existing HOWS market would remain. Bookend stores are proposed for both sides of the grocery store.

Additional freestanding buildings would be constructed around the common green opposite the existing Starbucks building. A freestanding bank is planned at the site of the long gone Mobil service station.

Other plans include a parking lot across Trancas Canyon Road behind the existing service station. This would require pedestrians to cross the busy street to get to the center.

The proposed one-story building on the old TR&R site would have its own parking lot with five or six storefronts housing exercise and yoga studios and office space. A walking path would connect the smaller center to the main compound west of the creek. Ingress and egress would be from Pacific Coast Highway.

Bercu said the center would maintain its existing 250 parking spaces. Burdge said no variances are being sought.

The shopping center owner, who has lived in Malibu with his family for nearly 10 years, said he wants to be sensitive to the many ideas and agendas of the various stakeholders in the area, including the members of the adjacent homeowners associations. Bercu said he wants to meet with community members and leaders.

“We have tried to take a different approach,” said Bercu, who acknowledged the shopping center has suffered from years of neglect and has maintenance issues.

He candidly said the only way the entire corner of Trancas Canyon Road and PCH could be improved is with the expansion of the center and the ability to collect more rents.

Bercu said he selected Burdge, primarily a residential architect, because that is the scale and feel he wanted for the center. Burdge said the idea was to create a series of single level, small-scale buildings that “function as an extension of one’s home.”

The timeline for the shopping center includes phase one which is the addition of two restaurants in the existing Starbucks building and the relocation of the karate school to a temporary tent structure.

A $1.5 million upgrade to the septic system is also planned as part of phase one. The permits for those additions have already been submitted.

Bercu said it was too early to tell how much the total cost for the redo will be. He said they were told by city officials the planning process might take up to 18 months. The existing stores will remain open during construction.

Casting a cautious eye to the future, the commercial landlord said he hoped the project could be finished by sometime in late 2009 or 2010.