CONCORD — Developers are breathing new retail life into some under-performing or empty commercial sites in the East Bay.

A recent beneficiary of such efforts is Concord, where commercial property owners have cycled in a fresh set of retailers into several older locations.

Sport Chalet is renting a vacant Good Guys store on Willow Pass Road. Ashley Furniture opened last Friday in a shuttered Levitz Furniture site on John Glenn Drive. An Olive Garden restaurant will open near an existing Circuit City store on Diamond Boulevard. The Italian restaurant will occupy a brand new stand-alone building.

And in the renovated Clayton Valley Shopping Center at the corner of Ygnacio Valley and Clayton roads, a Fresh & Easy market and a Ross store will help upgrade the project.

"Concord is doing a good job in helping owners renovate and re-tenant retail centers," City Councilman Guy Bjerke said. "Renovating these centers benefits the entire neighborhood." The deals also fill plenty of commercial space that would otherwise remain fallow.

Economic sluggishness and job losses have battered the East Bay economy lately. Still, the recent activity in Concord suggests the region's cities are robust enough to entice a wide array of retailers:

  • Sports Chalet rented 35,000 square feet. The new owner of the three-store center has launched an extensive face-lift of the old Good Guys building.

  • Ashley Furniture leased 50,000
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    square feet in a former Levitz site, which also was renovated.

  • Ross Stores will take 30,000 square feet, Fresh & Easy will occupy 14,000 square feet, and Longs Drugs is renting 16,000 square feet, all at Clayton Valley Shopping Center.

    The developers of these centers are placing multi-million-dollar bets that they can harvest plenty of profits by undertaking upgrades that in some cases are fairly extensive.

    For example, a B&L Realty partnership headed by East Bay developer Basil Christopoulos paid an estimated $24 million in June 2007 for the center on Willow Pass Road that once contained now-defunct merchants Good Guys and Tower Records.

    And a Regency Centers partnership has invested $33 million over the last three years to renovate and rebuild Clayton Valley Shopping Center, said Jennifer Hess, a Regency leasing agent.

    Longs Drugs is occupying a new store next to the site of its old one. The developers demolished the old Longs store and will construct a new building that will house Ross and Fresh & Easy, Hess said.

    Industry insiders believe the merchants have been enticed by the alluring economics of the East Bay. That was the case with Sport Chalet, said John Cumbelich, a Walnut Creek-based broker who helped arrange the Sport Chalet deal.

    "Sport Chalet likes the demographics of the area," said Cumbelich, principal executive of an eponymous commercial realty firm. "What Central Contra Costa offers any retailer is a strong density of relatively affluent and educated shoppers."

    What's more, it simply appears to be a good time for developers to revitalize these buildings, said Scott Kinsey, a Colliers International broker who helped arrange the purchase of the center where Sport Chalet will go.

    "It all starts with the retailers wanting to get in there," Kinsey said. "The amount of people and the incomes there scream for more retail. There's a lot of opportunity, so the developers are willing to put money into it."

    Ashley Furniture, one retailer that has just opened at a renovated site, has been embraced by its customers, said Jay Gupta, sales manager for the new store.

    "There are not too many furniture stores left in town," Gupta said. "The customers were happy to see us open. They are excited that we're here."

    The new retailers also translate into more jobs for the East Bay. Ashley Furniture has 22 employees at the Concord store, Gupta said. "We are still hiring," he added.

    Concord officials believe the recent commercial wins for the city are no fluke

    "It's a testament to how strong the retail market is in Concord," said John Montagh, the city's redevelopment and housing manager.

    George Avalos covers jobs, economic development, commercial real estate, finance and oil companies. Reach him at 925-977-8477 or gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com