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Friday, November 21, 2008

Soaring Dimensions: East County

Transit-oriented uses in Santee Town Center area

Source: City of Santee

Aug. 11, 2003

The city of Santee has focused its redevelopment efforts on the Santee Town Center area, which consists of 706 acres of master-planned development, incorporating commercial, residential, transit and recreational uses. The Town Center Master Plan encompasses the primary shopping centers and business district, and includes residential development, a 104-acre corporate office park and a 55-acre Town Center Community Park along the San Diego River. The central themes of the Santee Town Center Master Plan are pedestrian and transit orientation, and integration of the San Diego River into major projects such as the community park and corporate office park.

The San Diego Trolley line diagonally bisects Santee Trolley Square, a 450,000-square-foot shopping center.

Santee Trolley Square, which opened in fall 2002, is one of several new transit-oriented developments in the San Diego region. The San Diego Trolley line diagonally bisects the 50-acre site that comprises this 450,000-square-foot shopping center, making transit an integral part of this project.

At the northern end of the site is the $2.5 million Santee Transit Center, a multimodal facility serving as the hub for all bus services citywide and the terminus station for the San Diego Trolley linking Santee to downtown San Diego. It is surrounded by a food court, eating areas, a community safety center and a 250-seat outdoor public amphitheater.

The city and county are finalizing master plans with Ryan Cos. of Arizona for a 104-acre corporate office park, which will wrap around the Trolley Square site and provide the employment link to transit. The corporate campus will have capability for more than 1.5 million square feet of high-tech office potential, served by double bandwidth fiber optics.

In late April, The Hartford moved into its new regional headquarters offices in Santee -- a two-story, 97,000-square-foot office building that comprises the first phase of development of the corporate office park. The Hartford will employ a work force of 485, with 100 more jobs added over the next three years. The 104-acre corporate office park will also incorporate a high-density residential component to complement the transit-oriented mixed uses.

Existing residential development is located just a fraction of a mile from the Transit Station. The Mission Creek mixed-use development by Kaufman and Broad, which includes single-family homes, town homes and condominiums, is situated on the north bank of the San Diego River and includes pedestrian walkways to the rest of the Santee Town Center. It is situated directly across the street from the Town Center Community Park and the Corporate Office Park (on the south bank of the San Diego River), and is linked by a pedestrian overpass bridge across Cuyamaca Street.

The shops at Santee Trolley Square Shopping Center

Major stores

Barnes & Noble Books

Staples

Target

TJ Maxx

Home furnishings

Bed Bath & Beyond

Mattress Discounters

Pier 1 Imports

Dining & specialty foods

Chili's Grill & Bar