Nordstrom Expansion Plans Hit A Snag

One of the worst thing about holiday shopping at the mall? Coming back to the car to find a ding in the door or the bumper.

The good news for shoppers at the Village is that might be less of a hazard in the future if proposed plans come to fruition. The two anchor stores at The Village — Nordstrom and Macy's — are preparing for significant expansion of the retail space.

Those plans are being stalled until after the New Year, however.

Designers for The Village and Nordstrom presented plans to expand the retail store in front of the Corte Madera Planning Commission on Dec. 13. Eighty new parking spaces are included in the expansion plans for Nordstrom. Macy's is expected to increase its store size by 20,000 square feet to a total of 130,000 square feet.

Designers at The Village hope to expand all the spaces by 1 foot to 8 feet, 6 inches. The overall redesign would add a total of 150 new parking spaces at The Village.

Nordstrom wanted to push forward with its plans, while Macy's is expected to hold off before it begins expansion. Nordstrom, which plans to expand the 26-year old store to 127,350 square feet, is hoping to complete the construction within 2012.

That hope took a major hit during the last Corte Madera Planning Commission meeting of 2011. Commission members voted 3-2 not to approve any part of the plans yet and asked designers to return Jan. 10, 2012 with some revisions.

"The Commission is looking for more oomph in the redesign. I don't think we have trouble relative to the aesthetics. It's more a request that it match the vision of the general plan and the strong sustainable goals," Commissioner Peter Schwartz said, asking that Nordstrom take more of a leadership role among the business community in Corte Madera.

That request did not sit well with representatives from The Village and Nordstrom. Chuck Davis, vice president of development for Village owner Macerich, argued that any delay now in the permitting process would likely prevent the project from being completed in 2012.

"If we wait 30 days, we're going to be in a real pinch from a site delivery standpoint," Davis said. "If this gets delayed into January and doesn't move forward, this gets delayed an entire year."

Residents in the audience praised The Village and Nordstrom for being good neighbors. They also quietly voiced some concern the delay could lead Nordstrom to leave Corte Madera.

Commission members said they sympathized with the designer's situation, but doubted that the plans went far enough in efforts to make the building more environmentally friendly. Commissioner Richard Esteb said he was hoping to see more solar paneling and a plan to collect and reuse rainwater.

"If we can't do a thorough job the right way, then they can wait another year," Esteb said. "I feel very pressured by this."