Money & Business: Changes ahead for Ladera shopping center Money & Business: Changes ahead for Ladera shopping center (September 28, 2005)

New owners launch $2 million revitalization for Country Shopper

By Marjorie Mader

Almanac Staff Writer

A new chapter begins in Ladera as the Country Shopper, along Alpine Road, undergoes a $2 million revitalization.

Early residents of the planned Ladera community remember there were open fields off Alpine Road between La Cuesta and La Mesa drives until the late 1950's.

They recall the news that circulated throughout the area on Thursday, September 19, 1957.

A circular distributed to residents announced: "Eight years of extensive planning comes to life with the opening of the new Country Shopper in Ladera this evening from 7 to 10 with personal tours through the first two units, free redwood trees for every family, and a wide variety of refreshments and samples."

Don Long's Quality Foods and John's Liquors with brothers Larry and Don Ragno as proprietors were the first two units to open their doors that evening.

Advertised opening night specials at Long's included: Laura Scudder's Peanut Butter, large 18 ounce jar, for 49 cents; Durkee's Mayonnaise, large jar, 39 cents; and a half-gallon of Peninsula Ice Cream for 89 cents.

Over the years, the shopping center expanded, providing more services such as Sam's Chevron Station, a barbershop, George Bull's Ladera Pharmacy, a dress shop, garden center, hardware store, restaurants and a branch of a savings and loan company. The original owner and manager of the Country Shopper was the Portola Development Co.

The shopping center was considered unique in Northern California because the one-story ranch-style buildings blended in with its rural, residential environment in contrast to the then popular strip shopping centers along major streets with parking in front of the stores.

Members of the center's architectural/planning team are now icons in their fields -- architect John Carl Warnecke, land planning consultant Lawrence Livingston Jr., and landscape architect Lawrence Halprin.

Now, 48 years later, new owners and investors are undertaking a major renovation, updating the center and making it more accessible and user-friendly.

"The original design fit perfectly for the times," says Eric Willis of Willis & Co., project manager and one of the investors. Now, he says, it needs updating and revitalization.

The renovation will be done in three phases and continue through March 2006 while the stores remain open.

Changes take place every day as workers move ahead of schedule on redoing the parking areas, paving and landscaping. The fences around the former Iberia Restaurant have come down, opening up the area for a landscaped public plaza. The supports along the walkways are being boxed as columns with rock-faced bases. The center will be repainted.

A second entrance to the center off Alpine Road, opposite Washington Mutual Bank, has been created. Another entrance from Alpine, between Bianchini's Market and the Chevron station is being constructed. The parking area is being reconfigured.

Mr. Willis and the two other key investors, Boyd Smith and Dick Jacobsen, live in Palo Alto, and they know the area. For 17 years, Mr. Willis says, he's been riding along the horse trails in the hills around Ladera and has stopped at the shopping center.

He has talked with all the merchants about the proposed renovation and has negotiated new, longer leases with tenants whose leases have or will soon expire. All the current businesses are on board for the upgrade except Ridgeside Cafe, whose owners have decided not to renew their lease that expires October 31.

"The ongoing renovation will be disruptive to tenants, but we're hoping this great, loyal client base will continue to come to the stores despite the inconveniences," says Mr. Willis.

The construction limiting access to the center is being completed first.

"I'm very pleased with the new owners, and their interest in upgrading the center," says Kevin Bianchini, owner of the upscale market, housed in the original Long's grocery building.

Bianchini's Market will expand by pushing out the store walls near the parking areas to create about 3,000 square feet. A secured loading area will be built in back of the market.

"I definitely will expand the deli and add a soup and salad bar and more prepared food," says Mr. Bianchini, who is working with a consultant on store design. He plans to widen the existing grocery aisles and add two more aisles and another checkout stand.

The outdoor area between Bianchini's and the former hardware store will become a plaza with two new fountains, landscaping and a covered canopy where people may drink coffee or dine.

Mike Wallau, who grew up in Portola Valley, will open his third Mike's Cafe at the center adjacent to the plaza in the space that previously housed Ladera Hardware and Supply. He will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Mr. Wallau launched his first neighborhood restaurant on Middlefield Road in Palo Alto where Mr. Willis was a customer. He frequently suggested to Mr. Wallau that he open another "Mike's" in Ladera.

"One day, I discovered I signed my name to the lease," says Mr. Wallau during a conversation at his second "Mike's" on Middlefield Road in Menlo Park.

Three Amigos, a Mexican restaurant on Highway 1 south of Half Moon Bay, will open another restaurant at the Ladera center in rebuilt space formerly occupied by John's Liquors. A portion of the building will house a UPS store with a range of services for customers.

Some changes are in store for the Ladera Garden Center, owned and run by Juan and Mercedes Navarro. The wall facing the parking lot will be extended, and display windows installed to create a more attractive side entrance to the center. Work is almost completed on the new gate and fencing that encloses the nursery stock of plants, shrubs and trees.

The former Iberia restaurant is being demolished and on this site will be built offices or a medical building, Long ago, the building housed Country House, a restaurant and gift shop run by a women's auxiliary to raise funds for the nonprofit Children's Health Council.

Ladera Country Deli has a new owner, Mira Kang, and a new lease. She ran the cafeteria at Hewlett-Packard's sales headquarters in Mountain View, before coming to Ladera. Ms. Kang has made some changes, replacing the 25-year-old cases and flooring, extending the counter space, buying glass-top tables, and painting the interior. She also does catering and school lunches for Woodland School and St. Raymond School.

Diane's Beauty salon took a head start on remodeling. Not only was the shop updated and expanded to include the Razor's Edge barbershop space, but also chairs for barbers, "Aram" and "Steve."

Mr. Willis is seeing his vision for the center become real day by day. "The contractor is doing a wonderful job, moving the project along ahead of schedule," he says.

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