This story will be in tomorrow’s business section. The real estate company that bought the mortgage for the huge building and parking garage on Foothill is still considering what to do with it.

“It could be a mixed-use property,” said Marco Chavez , principal executive with Burlingame-based Chavez Management Group. “There could be some other uses. We haven’t decided. We only own the note so far.”

It’s an important piece in revitalizing the Foothill strip. Even as office space, it brings a lot of potential customers to the area.

And in case you missed it, we ran this roundup on recent downtown developments over the weekend. Also, had a recent piece specific to the new Mexican supermarket and taqueria downtown.

UPDATE #2: The official appointment and swearing-in ceremony for selected members will take place at the Sept. 14 City Council meeting.

UPDATE: Selections for the Planning Commission are Mariellen Faria, Sara Lamnin, Diane McDermott. For Personnel/Aff Action it’s Satinder Pal Singh and Gurjit Kaur. For Library, Kari McAllister. Keep Hayward Clean and Green, Monica Ruiz, Frances Sagapolu, Seleacia Taylor, Carol Baks Pecil and Werner Heisserer. Human Services, Diana Fagalde. Council Economic Development Committee, Terry Swartz, Chris Lam, Waseem Khan, Kanti Patel. DT Biz Improvement Area Advisory Board, Katherine Kelley, Beneba Thomas, Elie Goldstein, Benjamin Schweng. Citizen’s Advisory Committee: Rowena Gilmore, Ray Bonilla Jr., Flo Samuels, Allison McManus, Robert Leppert, Jim Todd and Julius Willis, Jr.

Hayward has a total of 44 applicants for posts on various boards and commissions. There are three vacancies on the Planning Commission, seven on the Citizen’s Advisory Commission, three on the Economic Development Committee, four on the Downtown Business Improvement Area Advisory Board, seven on the Keep Hayward Clean and Green Task Force and one each on the Human Services Commission, Library Commission and Personnel And Affirmative Action Commission. Applicants for the Planning Commission: Read the rest of this entry »

Ok, so the main reason for this post is to show off our HayWord host Big Mike’s profile shot. But we did have a story about how consultants and city officials hope to use the privately-owned fiberglass statue as the centerpiece for a future park on Mission Boulevard, as part of the Mission Boulevard Specific Plan that is in the works.

But there’s a host of information about Big Mike and his Muffler Man brethren at this website. Take a look at the various incarnations seen around the country — it’s a hoot. I like Spaceman Mike and creepy raised-eyebrow Big Ben.

Earlier this week, a judge upheld the state’s takeaway of local redevelopment dollars. As reported in today’s regional story, that means $5.3 million for Hayward. Here’s more information that didn’t make it into the story because of space constraints:

In Hayward, where the two-year grab will total about $5.3 million, Redevelopment Director Maret Bartlett said projects will be slowed down but not derailed.

That means less money for key projects such as the South Hayward BART redevelopment area, City Center and downtown retail attraction program. For example, the city is in the process of buying land along Mission Boulevard that will be then redeveloped.

“We were hoping to assemble the block on the west side of Mission between Pinedale and Sycamore,” she said. “We’ve acquired half the block but not as much as we’d like, and we can’t do it now.”

The blow was lessened because the redevelopment agency borrowed much of the lost money from its affordable housing fund, which must be paid back in five years.

Bartlett said that’s about how long she expects it to take to recuperate from the loss.

She added that it is frustrating that the money is being taken for use in schools because the city was already partnering with the school district on projects, and used redevelopment money for the creation of the new Burbank Elementary School.

“I think Hayward has been trying to do the right thing by the school district here,” she said. “We contributed a lot of redevelopment money to build a new school, and (the school district) has been a great partner. I just think it’s sad.”

Barlett added that it’s especially tough because with property values dropping, the tax increment going into the redevelopment fund is lower than it has been in prior years. About 17 percent lower.

“That’s huge,” she said. “And it’s expected to be down again this year.”

As a side note, the property acquisition for the downtown loop project will not be affected because those are not gained through redevelopment funds but rather through Measure B transportation funds.

Ok, so maybe it’s not suitable for Olympic-style competition (don’t even think about bringing a curling stone) but there will be a 1,200-square-foot synthetic ice rink set up at Hayward City Hall from 1 to 9 p.m. Saturday. If watching Vancouver footage has you all riled up and eager to lace-up, it could be fun for only $2 per 25-minute session, skates included.

BH Skating Parks International is bringing the faux ice. It’s a Canadian company, so if you want to rub in Sunday’s upset hockey win, feel free to chant “U-S-A!” ad infinitum as you slide around. But keep the cross-checking in check — this is a family affair.

While the synthetic ice provided  supposedly not as slick as the real deal, this guy makes it look pretty fun:

Synthetic ice demontration

A permit that would have allowed live music and a cover charge at the Funky Monkey bar in downtown Hayward was denied by the Planning Commission at its Thursday meeting, on the grounds that the venue is already taxing to police services and doesn’t seem to be interested in doing anything to change that.

 The applicant stated that the cover charge would help keep troublemakers out of the bar. Police didn’t think it would make a difference. An attorney for the applicant said police are out to get the Funky Monkey, and target it on weekend nights and that’s why so many incidents are recorded there.

That didn’t sit well with planners.

“You mention police sitting out in front as if that’s a negative thing,” said Rodney Loche. “I applaud the police for doing what they have to do.  It is unfortunate we have to use police in that way, but they are doing what they feel they need to do to make the city safer…  To suggest it is a negative or personal attack is unfortunate.”

Included in the staff report recommending denial is police information about service calls to the Funky Monkey. There were 80 last year. Three case studies included are kind of a “best of” list. Er, make that “worst of”:

Read the rest of this entry »

So maybe it’s already too late – word is out that they did a soft opening Tuesday night. During off peak hours this afternoon, a couple dozen cars were lined up for the drive-thru, about the same for the drive-in, and a walk-up line was rolling about 12 deep.

Still, fast food fans said they were getting served in short order by the inline-skating bellhops.

We will have a story out over the weekend. Frank Leamy, the pictured co-owner, said they didn’t do any advertising and are already swamped.

“It’s all Facebook and Twitter and online word of mouth,” Leamy said. So consider this is the official online heads up for HayWordians.

There’s even OMG it’s a Sonic YouTube video of a car driving by the new Hayward location.

More details on the Sonic are in our earlier HayWord post.

San Leandro-based apparel company The North Face  is unhappy with Jimmy Winkelmann, a 19-year-old St. Louis college student who founded his own apparel company, called The South Butt. Earlier this month, The North Face sued The South Butt for trademark infringement.

NPR, USA Today, AP, newspapers and television news have covered the case. Winkelmann says the ensuing publicity is driving traffic, and sales, to his Web site.  (That’s Winkelmann above.)

“If you are unable to discern the difference between a face and a butt, we encourage you to buy North Face products,” Winkelmann says on his site.

City Council gave a downtown restaurant and night club the go ahead in a fairly extended meeting last night. I’ll have a longer story in tomorrow’s Review.

Speaking of long meetings, the Council also approved changing the time they meet. Starting next year, Tuesday night meetings will begin at 7 instead of 8 p.m.

That 8 p.m. start time was definitely on the late side of things. The earlier start puts Hayward in line with Fremont, San Leandro, Union City, Oakland and Berkeley, to name some other 7 o’clockers. Newark remains a regional anomaly that splits the difference, starting at 7:30 p.m.

Today’s paper had this story about what happens when a large plant such as NUMMI closes. Nearly 400 workers will soon be out of work at a Hayward supplier of plastic parts whose sole customer was NUMMI. And, of course, more than 10 times that many people will no longer have jobs at NUMMI itself when the plant closes in April.

And for the big picture, multiply that again by 10. According to today’s story, “some industry watchers believe the auto factory’s closure could imperil 40,000 to 50,000 jobs in California.”