Trolley Square opens new parking garage

A 200-space parking garage on the west side of Trolley Square opened Friday for the holiday shopping season, part of the shopping center's $60 million renovation and expansion project.

"You'll find a beautifully light, bright garage," said Tom Bard, a principal for ScanlanKemperBard, Trolley's owner. The three-level garage is free and in the same location as a previous parking garage.

The top level will have 33,000 square feet of retail space. Ground is expected to break on that project this spring. Parking is on the street level and a new underground level.

Seven tenants have moved to new renovated spaces inside Trolley: Brass Key Antiques, Cabin Fever, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Secret Garden, The Spectacle, Trolley Taffy Station and Ypsilon.

European Linens and Design and Wells Fargo also relocated to new stores this year. Williams-Sonoma recently finished a 2,900-square-foot expansion. And Desert Edge Brewery at the Pub, the Old Spaghetti Factory and Tabula Rasa Social Stationers have signed long-term leases at the mall.

Next for the renovation is construction of a 53,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market. That construction is expected to finish by spring 2010.

April Nelson, an employee of Secret Garden, believes the parking garage will draw more people to the mall and her store, an independent shop that sells children's clothing with locations only at Trolley Square and in Marin County, Calif. "I think it's going to bring people back," she said.

Her store has been in Trolley for 12 years. Its new space is on the first floor at the bottom of the escalator near the amphitheater.

Some shoppers stayed away from Trolley, Nelson said, because of the construction and lack of parking. Nelson is happy that the parking garage is open before Christmas, which she expects will be tough for retailers this year because of the recession.

Survival for the Secret Garden will depend on regular, loyal customers. "We have people who come to our shop only," Nelson said. "We love them and appreciate them, and they're going to help."

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com