The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday in the noon hour.
QUESTION: In your opinion, what shopping center in Claycord could use a good makeover?
Talk about it….
Veranda, can’t believe how they screwed that up the design. It should’ve been one of the “modern” outdoor plaza type malls that get built all over CA, the kind with fountains, benches, trees/awnings for shade as you stroll between stores. But no these idiots make the primary feature a huge, poorly-designed parking lot. And then a stupid movie theater that doesn’t even have a snack bar.
Besides that there’s Park N Shop plus all the other ghetto strip malls along Clayton Rd that are an embarrassing eyesore.
A monstrosity
Without question – the one housing the post office, CVS, and Staples at Treat and Clayton.
Agreed…that place is terrible. Needs a total makeover.
Yes. It is called Bel Aire Shopping Center. Do you think it is likely that the corporate owner is hiking up the leases so that most spaces stay empty…… then claiming them as losses for IRS purposes?
Sun Valley- Total do over
Park and Shop – needs to be leveled both sides of Willow Pass; make it a park
The Willows
There really is no nice shopping center in Concord
CVS at Treat & Clayton.
The very definition of “blight”
The Terminal across from Bart but it may be too late.
There’s a reason why it’s called “Terminal” – Lol
Clayton & Treat, don’t know the name of it but the shopping center that is home to CVS, Staples, and the Post Office.
Bel-Air
Park n Shop
Sun Valley Mall would be an obvious choice for a parking lot redevelopment of the sort that is common in Canada where a good portion of the parking lot is replaced with tall apartment buildings which provide a bigger local customer base which revitalizes the mall and gives a lot of people places to live.
It’s too close to the airport to do that.
Of course, one of the big problems faced the shopping centers in Concord is that the city has absurdly high parking requirements and shopping centers are forced to have far more parking than they actually need.
The east end of Park and Shop is usually full to capacity with cars, especially in front of 99 Ranch. That is one shopping center that needs MORE parking.
Many parking lots are filled with people using them as “park and ride” venues.
Maybe enforce ordinances which ticket any non-employee vehicles still there in the lots between an hour after closing and an hour before opening?
I actually love the Varanda! I do admit though, that when I first drove up to it I left because I was greeted by this huge parking lot and couldn’t even see the neat features of the center itself. But once parked it really is a nice place and they’re continually trying to improve it. My hat’s off to them. I’d much rather go there than that stupid Broadway plaza and Walnut Creek.
Regarding other centers in Concord they really all need a facelift. But unfortunately, and I fear, even if they did get a facelift they be frequented by the Street people and homeless the dirty things up quick.
Veranda was nice when it opened, now all the low life from Sun Valley is gravitating over. Don’t feel safe there
What’s a shopping center?
SunValley. The clientele and stores feel like you’re visiting the exercise yard at San Quentin. Also, the stripmall that houses Frye’s is a dump.
You nailed it. I go to Dublin and way out that way. So much nicer there. Cannot believe it. I hate to say it, with the exception of Diamond Blvd. the entire Concord is a complete dump. It is very ugly and outdated. With all the money they get from tax dollars and all the business out there, what is happening? I go out towards Dublin and San Ramon now for most of my shopping.
Treat & Clayton is so ghetto. I’ve seen jails with better design and curb appeal. I also like the Veranda. We go there at least once a month. If you want to see a downtown done right, look no further than Walnut Creek. Its got the whole package: Restaurants, Pubs, Shopping, Food Outlets, Cafes, and hopefully entertainment soon.
Yes you got nailed it too! Concord and the rest below, Pittsburg, Antioch is a mess and frankly dangerous. It a poor planning.
Perhaps with the shift to on-line ordering we’ll start seeing many local malls torn down and converted to parks. I miss all the orchards we had in the area before suburbia and the malls showed up.
You have a wonderful idea there. I remember the almond and walnut orchards. No tacky strip malls.
antioch has had poor planning and governance for decades.
See no reason any company would risk money setting up a business or owning commercial property there.
What are they puttng in next to Lowes off Highway 4?
All of Clayton and monument
Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek. It needs a giant mural of George Floyd so when visiting shoppers exit the freeway on Mt. Diablo Blvd it’s the first thing they see. Then the city can pretend to be woke and diverse without actually having to do it. In 2021, it’s all about optics.
Sun Valley. It should be moved to Idaho
What did Idaho do to deserve Sunvalley?
I remember when Sunvalley was nice.
After 40 years here, I still believe Central Contra Costa is a great place to live, but let’s face it: Concord, Pleasant Hill and Martinez are not Lamorinda, Danville or the Tri-Valley.
If you’re a developer looking to invest big bucks into a shopping center, would you choose Concord over Walnut Creek, Danville or Pleasanton?
Techies and the tech industry have transformed the Tri-Valley. I worked in Dublin from 1990 to 1997, and while similar to Concord, I always thought Concord was nicer. But it’s a different story today.
Look at Danville. Once the conservative stalwart of the Bay Area (and the only conservative city in the Bay Area), it’s been transformed into a Democrat stronghold. The techies did it. Once techies realized the commute to the South Bay was doable from Danville and San Ramon, that area was doomed.
But the techies brought high incomes. And the expanding tech industry in Pleasanton and Dublin brought even more techies.
The new Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon is 70% Asian, most of them being Indian. The school is 12% White. That tells you how much that area has changed.
So, if you’re looking to build or improve a multi-million dollar shopping center, do you do it in Concord, where poor illegal aliens squat; or San Ramon, where highly compensated Asians live?
Great post. You should have your own column.
Park N Shop is made up of like 30 different property owners. Each individual store has it’s own property parcel and they are almost all under separate ownership…Some of them are foreign investors. This means that it will most likely never be upgraded unless someone can convince all of them to participate.
I heard that they tried back around 2010 and couldn’t get even 1/3 of the owners to agree to chip in…
Ah, trick question…all of them. Another possible positive repercussion of the CBV; bulldoze and replace with style ala Town & Country Village…Blackhawk Plaza…mucho more trees, ponds, California Mission style, plenty of free & logically designed parking
Cool ideas you have. It would be great.
Houses have been accidentally bulldozed. Have any shopping centers been accidentally bulldozed, yet?
Corner of Bailey and Clayton Rd… it looked bad in the 70’s… the owners of all these shopping centers do not care about our opinions. They care about 1 thing $$$$… they basically are waving their finger in the air at Concord. City of Concord has absolutely no backbone, zero.. as long as tax dollars are rolling in.. the older Concord gets the larger the ghetto it becomes.. too late to rebound.
I think all the strip malls from the 60’s/70’s Bel Air, Park n Shop, Terminal, etc. But I could care less as with the sales tax going up a half cent next Wednesday I will take my business elsewhere. Since all I have seen from Measure Q is mucked up Treat/Clayton Road intersection, I doubt I will see anything from Measure V for the extra half cent.
All the strip malls appear to be hurting and I feel online shopping is the main reason as folks avoid many independent small shops. What will become of all the old strip malls?
Housing
Housing
Housing and more housing…. perhaps 😁?
The Bel Air center on Treat. That shopping center is a total dump! No wonder there is a 50% vacancy rate there.
This is a moot question. The demand for shopping centers has been dwindling for years now due to online shopping. Some of these once ‘vital economic destinations’ will merely be torn down with multi-family residence units taking their places.