Years earlier than John Agustin took over Western Pacific Filipino Grocery, he was only a child taking part in within the car parking zone of Honest Oaks Plaza.
He and the opposite youngsters from neighboring mom-and-pop retailers – the dry cleaners, the liquor retailer, the Japanese restaurant – would play tag and skateboard within the car parking zone. Generally, they’d place a can far out within the lot and compete to see who might hit it with a slipper.
In the present day, Agustin runs the grocery retailer his household has owned for 3 generations. However quickly, the plaza itself will probably be gone.
The view of Honest Oaks Plaza from within Western Pacific Filipino Grocery in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
The purchasing heart – situated on E. Duane Ave in North Sunnyvale – is considered one of seven websites town of Sunnyvale designated in 2017 for transformation into Village Facilities — walkable hubs of housing, retail, and outside house. New improvement requirements handed on July 1 for the Village Facilities sought to protect retail by designating industrial house, however these guidelines won’t save shops like Agustin’s.
A improvement proposal for Honest Oaks Plaza has been pending since 2022. Although it initially envisioned solely housing on the location, that plan has since been revised to incorporate industrial house comprising 10% of the lot space, in keeping with town.
Lakewood Buying Middle on Lawrence Expressway, one other Village Middle website in traditionally underserved North Sunnyvale, was accepted in Could for a 101-unit townhome improvement.
In interviews, District 5 Metropolis Councilmember Richard Mehlinger and metropolis workers each pointed to state housing legal guidelines that they are saying limit town’s means to alter the plans for Honest Oaks Plaza and require extra retail from the developer.
Beneath SB 330, town should consider initiatives primarily based on the foundations in place after they’re submitted. Whereas Sunnyvale initially deliberate to create zoning for the Village Facilities after functions got here in, state regulation now lets builders bypass zoning and construct beneath the broader Basic Plan—opening the door to housing-only initiatives, which are sometimes far more worthwhile than mixed-use plans.
A buyer seems to be via cabinets at Western Pacific Filipino Grocery within the Honest Oaks Plaza in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
Builders are additionally allowed to request concessions that override native zoning—akin to decreasing required industrial house—in the event that they embrace a small proportion of reasonably priced items. Moreover, town should implement the identical requirements on all housing developments, which signifies that it can’t reject particular person initiatives primarily based on neighborhood pursuits, Mehlinger stated.
Mehlinger stated these authorized elements have allowed many improvement proposals that “do not align with the original Village Center vision,” which he’s personally “frustrated” with.
Developer Nicholas Gera couldn’t be reached for remark. The proposed Honest Oaks undertaking has not but been scheduled for public listening to, in keeping with town.
Himanshu Sethi and Phil Harvey had been amongst a bunch of residents that met with Mehlinger this previous March to debate preserving retail on the plaza. A petition Sethi spearheaded to exempt North Sunnyvale plazas from Village Middle improvement and prioritize meals entry within the space has obtained virtually 2,000 signatures.
Whereas they acknowledge town’s present limitations, the residents additionally imagine town had ample time to create goal requirements and replace its Basic Plan previous to the passage of those state legal guidelines.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t erase those cities’ long window to act or the consequences of not doing so,” Sethi stated. “What’s happened has happened, but I think what we need is support from the city moving forward.”
Harvey stated loads of residents he spoke with weren’t even conscious of the plans for redevelopment and are “very, very upset.”
“This is very much part of the community,” he stated of Honest Oaks Plaza.
Sethi emphasised the worth of the minority-owned companies that serve the wants of the realm’s various immigrant communities.
Pakistani immigrant Saifullah Memon has run South Asian grocery retailer Taj Mahal Contemporary Marketplace for almost 30 years. He shares recent goat and lamb meat, tropical fruit like star apples and dragon fruit, and pantry staples not often discovered exterior the area. His prospects come from so far as Monterey and San Ramon. As soon as the plaza is redeveloped, he doesn’t know the place he’ll go.
Taj Mahal Contemporary Market within the Honest Oaks Plaza in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
When Memon and Agustin individually reached out to metropolis workers to ask for support, as instructed in Metropolis Council conferences, workers informed them there was nothing town might do.
“Always the same thing: ‘The landlord has the power,’ they say, ‘Land belongs to the landlord,’” Memon stated. “What can you do? Nothing. We cannot do anything.”
As soon as improvement begins, Agustin and Memon stated, relocation of their companies won’t be simple. They don’t seem to be in a position to begin planning but as a result of they don’t know when town will approve the event proposal.
“All of us are just trying to figure out what’s our best play without having a timeline,” Agustin stated. “When does the clock end?”
He has been visiting buildings which might be obtainable for lease, planning to speak to his financial institution a few enterprise mortgage, and talking with different enterprise house owners within the plaza about doubtlessly combining their companies in a brand new location.
All of this comes at a value. Changing freezers and fridges, acquiring new permits from town, and retaining workers is a problem for any enterprise compelled to maneuver.
Teresa and Sergio Lopez, who personal Angelou’s Mexican Grill in downtown San Jose, relocated the restaurant after they had been compelled to go away their earlier longtime location in 2023, which was deliberate for improvement into housing for seniors. They needed to preserve the restaurant closed for a 12 months whereas their new allow was pending, digging into financial savings and bank cards.
“Little by little, it’s like we started a new business again,” Sergio stated.
Trudi Ryan, town’s neighborhood improvement director, stated metropolis workers “proactively held meetings with and went door-to-door to the businesses in Fair Oaks Plaza to listen to their business needs and concerns about the proposed project.” She stated they inspired affected companies to achieve out to town for help, akin to assist with website choice and the allowing course of.
Mehlinger added that he plans to place forth two price range proposals – one to create a relocation help fund for companies within the affected complexes, and one other to extend staffing particularly targeted on retail retention and improvement within the metropolis’s Workplace of Financial Growth – and suggest a examine concern to “develop a citywide retail strategy.”
The staffing proposal and examine concern would each “specifically focus on underserved areas such as North Sunnyvale,” Mehlinger stated. He plans to suggest the price range measures on the finish of this month, however all three proposals could be for fiscal 12 months 2026-2027.
John Agustin, proprietor of Western Pacific Filipino Grocery, factors to a small enterprise certificates he obtained from town of Sunnyvale whereas speaking to The Mercury Information in his retailer within the Honest Oaks Plaza in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
Produce used for Filipino cooking on sale at Western Pacific Filipino Grocery within the Honest Oaks Plaza in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
Collectible figurines on the entrance of Western Pacific Filipino Grocery within the Honest Oaks Plaza in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
Western Pacific Filipino Grocery within the Honest Oaks Plaza in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
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John Agustin, proprietor of Western Pacific Filipino Grocery, factors to a small enterprise certificates he obtained from town of Sunnyvale whereas speaking to The Mercury Information in his retailer within the Honest Oaks Plaza in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
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Reflecting on the state of affairs, Agustin of Western Pacific recalled a neighborhood member emphasizing to different residents how in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, neighborhood groceries like Western Pacific and Taj Mahal had been those that “held it down for the whole area.”
At Western Pacific, the cabinets had been stripped utterly clear. Agustin was on the retailer “non-stop,” working to maintain the cabinets stocked – which he stated even positioned a private pressure on his household life.
He additionally recalled receiving a certificates from Mayor Larry Klein at a Metropolis Council assembly in honor of “Small Business Saturday” in 2023.
“To have the mayor say, ‘Look, we’re here to preserve small businesses,’ only to be one of the businesses affected by this – that’s probably one of the worst things to feel on my end,” Agustin stated. “That kind of stings.”
