City Plans to Seek Help to Enhance NewPark Region

City staff is hoping to take steps toward reestablishing Newark as a central retail hub for Southern Alameda County residents.

And the first stride city staff will be making is asking city council for approval to seek professional services to develop a vision for and its surrounding shopping areas.

The council will vote during its Thursday meeting whether to go forward with searching for a firm to create the Greater NewPark Master Plan – a plan that could serve as a formal vision the entire greater NewPark area.

The greater NewPark area includes NewPark Mall and its surrounding areas, which include , the near and the Mowry Plaza, which houses TJ Maxx and .

Community Development Director Terrence Grindall has said that the NewPark Mall area has seen some decline in business since trends have moved toward outdoor shopping plazas with big-box stores.

But Grindall has also noted that this gives the city a chance to plan for the future.

According to the city council’s agenda packet, the city’s vision for the area is for mixed-use where a “21st century downtown” can be created.

The area would need a major activity point – such as a convention, sport or event center – and be a place where people “work, shop, live, eat, recreate and experience culture,” according to the agenda.

The agenda also states that as part of making the Greater NewPark Master Plan the consultant firm to be hired would be charged would:

• Assess commercial-retail and office-residential markets and future trends.
• Conduct opportunities and constraints analysis  -- including traffic, transit and other infrastructure
• Coordinate with property owners, community leaders and city staff to understand issues, perspectives and visions.
• Develop alternative land plans, which are both visionary and feasible.
• Refine land plans and facilitate the selection of a preferred alternative or alternatives.
• Develop a phasing and financing plan to implement the Master Plan.
• Present the preferred master plan to the Planning Commission and City Council.
• Refine the Master Plan based on policy maker input.
• Prepare the final Master Plan.

The recommendation is to find a consultant team that would include retail and real estate experts, land planners, architects, engineers and economists, according to the agenda.

Staff indicates in the agenda that the Master Plan would be implemented with the city’s General Plan update and that the estimated cost for the consultant services could amount up to approximately $80,000.

For more information, click here to download the agenda or see the attached PDF. City council meets at 7:30 p.m. at city hall, 37101 Newark Blvd.

What kind of upgrades do you think NewPark Mall and its surrounding areas need? Tell us in the comments. Do you think the area would be enhanced if it was a downtown-like, mixed-use area? Vote in our poll below.