Santa Clarita's newest retail, commercial and residential development.

The Smiser Mule Ranch is scheduled to be transformed from a mule farm with one lone mule and a few outbuildings into The Commons, an upscale retail, residential and commercial complex in the near future.

The Smiser Ranch area covers about 37 acres, and reaches from the Calgrove area to the border of the existing mobile home park. It’s a narrow strip of land bordering the I-5 freeway and Wiley Canyon Road.

According to Jeff Lambert, a representative for this project, the plans for this area include vertical mixed-use areas (combined retail and residential), 500,000 square feet of retail space, 6 upscale restaurants, office buildings, and a hotel of the caliber of the Hyatt Valencia. The residential portion of this project is expected to be only about 1,000 condo-style units, with 250 of those being Seniors-oriented (age restricted), and no rental units are planned.

Current plans are for the hotel and office buildings to be up to 12 stories tall, with the residential buildings mostly at 4-5 stories, but with 4 buildings planned to be 8-10 stories tall. The taller buildings are planned to be closer to the freeway, and all buildings are planned to follow the topography of the area to some degree. These building heights are of course subject to approval by the City of Santa Clarita, so the plans may change somewhat by the time construction begins.

The Commons is designed to be an upscale destination area, with a walking path running the entire length of the project for easy access to the retail and restaurants from the hotel, residential units and office buildings.

Don’t expect to see this project breaking ground real soon though, since they don’t expect to file the required documents with the City of Santa Clarita until possibly late this Summer. Hearings on The Commons project are expected to run through 2009 or possibly into early 2010, and then actual construction plans will be measured by the real estate market conditions at the time.

The first phase, which is likely to be either the residential development or a portion of the retail and office space, is expected to be completed in 2011 or 2012, depending on the timing of the hearings and approvals that are required before construction can begin.

The timing of this project will apparently not conflict with the current expansion plans for the Valencia Town Center Mall, where they plan to add an additional 500,000 square feet of space on what is currently existing mall parking lots.

It’s hard to say how this will affect the plans for the Downtown Newhall Redevelopment Project, since both projects are relatively long-term propositions. However, it would certainly make sense to evaluate the potential impact that The Commons project will have on the ability for the Old Town Newhall area to attract retail stores and customers, since The Commons has a much better location with easy access for local residents as well as good visibility from the freeway. The Old Town Newhall project is already looking rather weak as it is, without considering the potential competition from The Commons and from the expansion of the Valencia Town Center Mall.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.