Stockton bus station
targeted as future retail center

By Reed Fujii, Record Staff Writer

Posted Sep. 23, 2015 at 5:55 PM

STOCKTON — The Greyhound bus station in downtown Stockton
opened with fanfare 47 years ago as a hub that could handle up to 10 buses at a
time. That bus traffic has dwindled and so has the bus company’s need for most
of the facility. Real estate agents now hope to attract a mix of retail shops
and eateries to operate alongside the bus depot, which could revitalize the
high-visibility block at Center and Washington streets.

Xavier Santana, commercial real estate broker for the
property, said the initial approach would be to shrink the bus depot’s
footprint to about 3,000 square feet within the existing building, opening up
about 16,000 square feet to other uses. “The ideal situation for the owners is
to do a façade upgrade and bring in … multiple complementary retailers,” he
said. “The landlord is looking to put some serious money into improving the
façade and parking area.”

Santana, president of Northgate Commercial in Stockton, said
this week possible uses might include a restaurant or coffee house, market or
convenience store, a gasoline station or other small retailer. Or it could be
an even larger project, perhaps an entirely new building, whatever a
prospective tenant might desire and have the ability to finance. “Depending on
the demand, that would mostly dictate the direction we take,” he said. Micah
Runner, Stockton economic development director, welcomed the prospect. “New
investment, new development would be a positive impact for us,” he said. He
noted that the property owner controls an entire block, opening a greater range
of possible uses. “We’re happy that it’s a single owner that can control the
whole block,” Runner said. “That kind of opened up the opportunity for them to
market the site more comprehensively.”

Cynthia Fargo, chief executive of the Downtown Stockton
Alliance, also applauded potential development of the site but noted it is
somewhat isolated from the downtown core, being west of the Center-El Dorado
streets corridor. “There’s certainly some opportunity for a large-scale
operation that’s especially interested in visibility from the Crosstown
Freeway, …” she said. “For a small-scale retailer, it’s important there be a
pedestrian connection between the existing retail and residential uses.” Santana,
however, said the property has extremely high visibility and the traffic to
draw in trade. “As far as we’re concerned, there’s a demand for services down
there,” he said. “There are a lot of people who drive through this area.” From
his standpoint, the site’s primary drawback applies more widely to downtown
Stockton in general — that its population peaks during weekday business hours,
when the many business and government offices are filled with workers, and
drains away in the evenings and weekends, when they are not.

Greyhound spokeswoman Ashley Sears said the bus company
anticipates no change in Stockton bus schedules or daily operations. Currently,
the station receives about 16 buses per day and offers package shipping
services as well, she said. “We are still negotiating how exactly this is going
to affect Greyhound, but we will continue to serve the community of Stockton
from this location,” Sears said.

Greyhound selected the site because of its central location
and access to freeway on- and offramps at Center Street. The terminal, opened in
1968, was described as a “million-dollar bus terminal” in a story published
Nov. 25 of that year in The Record. It had the capacity to handle 10 buses at
any one time and was designed to allow the addition of a helipad, the story
says. “Provisions for a helicopter pad atop the single-story center have been
made in view of the possible designation of the center as a major hub on
Greyhound’s main line between Los Angeles and Vancouver, B.C., after the West
Side Freeway (Interstate 5) is completed.”

— Contact reporter Reed Fujii at (209) 546-8253 or
rfujii@recordnet.com.

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