Tag: Pleasanton

Across the Bay Area, cities are searching for places to build more homes. And old shopping malls, with their vast parking lots, are being seen as a prime housing opportunity. That includes Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton. 

But city officials have been frustrated by their efforts to get the property’s owners to play nice together.

“The idea here is to get the ball rolling. It’s not rolling right now. Nothing has happened,” said Pleasanton City Manager Gerry Beaudin. “These groups of owners have not cooperated with one another.”

At a meeting in June, the Pleasanton City Council discussed why it’s taking so long for anything to be done to redevelop and revitalize the Stoneridge Mall. It’s still operating, but is not nearly as successful as it once was, and the city has been encouraging them for years to make changes.  

The problem is the property has four separate owners and they all must agree for anything to get done.

“They’re arguing at a time when we need them to be planning and working on behalf of the greater good for this site and for the community, and frankly, for themselves,” said Beaudin.  “We haven’t seen any movement.”

“It has been challenging, with four different property owners, to get on the same page,” said Councilmember Valerie Arkin.

She points to a redeveloped mall in Glendale called “The Americana,” as a model. It added lots of new housing and outdoor space and has been wildly successful.  

“There is value for the property owners to have a project here that is successful,” said Arkin.  “And with housing and a revitalized mall, that’s a benefit to them as well.”

At Stoneridge, a 360-unit housing complex was fully approved last year to be built at the southeast corner of the mall’s parking lot. But nothing has been done and the property owners now say it’s “on pause.”  

The city acknowledges that, with higher interest rates and material costs, this is a difficult time to build. But they said it’s the perfect time to begin the planning and permitting process, so the full project is ready to go when market conditions improve.  

The council is asking the owners to each put up $50,000 just to get things started. But Jerry Hunt, whose company owns the JC Penney property, didn’t sound very hopeful.

“We want to collaborate with the ownership group,” he told the council in June. “But to ask us to advance any kind of money on some vague idea is like advancing money for marriage counseling when your spouse won’t go.”

The city has already granted six extensions to the project, and they said they’ll give the owners six more months to get something done before they pull the plug on their efforts.

“This is coming to an end,” said Beaudin. “And there will be action or there will not be this opportunity, which is going to frustrate everyone.”

The suspects in the killing of a Pleasanton Home Depot employee will see prison time, but his mother’s mission for justice is not over yet.

Both suspects agreed to plea deals in the shooting death of loss prevention officer Blake Mohs, who was working at the Pleasanton store. The killing happened during an attempted shoplifting at the store on Johnson Road last April.

Mohs was killed as he attempted to intervene and stop a shoplifter. His mother, Lorie Mohs, said she had never been involved in politics until after her son’s murder.

“It feels like yesterday, but it feels like 10 years ago. That moment where your heart stops and you go, this can’t, like this can’t,” said Mohs.

The suspected shoplifter and shooter, 33-year-old Benicia Knapps agreed to plead no contest to 2nd degree murder, which carries a sentence of 19 years to life in prison. The person accused of driving the getaway car, 32-year-old David Guillory pleaded no contest to being an accessory as well as other charges. His sentence could be around eight years.

“There’s that moment that happens when you’ve got it. You’ve got the deal done, and you can breathe,” said Lorie.

She said she is the one who pushed for the plea deal because it can’t be appealed, but more importantly because it finally brings closure to her family. She said over the past year her family has been fighting with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office to get appropriate charges filed against the suspects.

“They erased his future. Why would I have to fight for justice for him?” she asks.

It’s part of the reason why she has been an outspoken advocate trying to get current Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price recalled from office.

“I voted for her, and I made a mistake. She doesn’t do anything for victims except revictimize them. She doesn’t help them,” Mohs said. “She doesn’t give them any details as to how to get justice for their family. She just looks out for the people that did it.”

Mohs said, at this point, she’s relieved to have the case behind them so her family can move on, and she hopes the same will happen for the suspects.

“My goal for them in this is that the time that they’re going to serve, that they make it productive, that they get some job skills, they find their faith, they find a redeemed life for their kids.”

While both suspects have agreed to that plea deal, their sentencing is scheduled for June 6.

The DA’s office issued a statement about the plea deal on Tuesday.

“The DA’s office and its Victim-Witness Advocates have been in continuous contact with Blake (Mohs’) family throughout the court proceedings over this past year. In open court, the prosecutor stated on the record that the resolution occurred with the blessing of the next of kin, who were present in court during the negotiations with the defense and when the plea was entered,” the DA’s office said.