STC Venture has closed escrow on the Sunnyvale Town Center, meaning that at long last construction downtown can begin again and progress can be made toward completing the long-stalled project.

STC Venture is a joint venture between Hunter Storm, Sares Regis Group of Northern California and J.P. Morgan Asset Management. A groundbreaking to celebrate the resumption of construction work downtown will be held Oct. 19.

“Sunnyvale Town Center is of primary importance to the residents, businesses and the city of Sunnyvale,” said Deke Hunter, managing member of Hunter Storm, in a press statement. “Our first tasks will include completing the mixed-use retail, upgrading the infrastructure and preparing Redwood Square for future development.”

For more than half a decade, the downtown has sat in the heart of Sunnyvale unfinished, with empty buildings and hollow facades. It has been one of the biggest issues on the minds of residents who want a community gathering place.

The site used to be home to an indoor mall that opened in 1979 with plans to be converted to an open-air development. The 36-acre mixed-use area bordered by Mathilda, Washington, Sunnyvale and Iowa avenues has sat unfinished since 2009.

The land use and site development plan for the town center project was proposed to build up to 1 million square feet of retail, residential and office space as well as a hotel. It was then bought by a joint venture between Sand Hill Property Co. and RREEF, but the project came to a halt when the group defaulted on a 108.8 million Wells Fargo loan in 2009.

Wells Fargo then took ownership of the project at a foreclosure auction in 2011, which was followed by Peter Pau of Sand Hill suing the bank which led to even further stalling. The case went up to the Sixth District Court of Appeals, which found in favor of Wells Fargo in 2015, freeing the bank to sell the property to someone who could complete the project. Two parcels within the town center are not owned by STC Venture: Target and Macy’s, the latter of which was purchased by Sand Hill in 2015.

According to STC Venture, the first priority is to complete the area’s 198 residential units, with construction to begin next month. Work will also begin on retail space below the units. The bare metal framework at Redwood Square is scheduled to be demolished in the coming months. There are plans to convert the square into a meeting space.

Approximately 116,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space are planned, as is an approximately 118,000-square-foot theater/retail building.

The Oct. 19 kickoff and “demolition party” for the removal of Redwood Square’s steel frame will take place at the corner of McKinley and Murphy avenues from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with speakers and a buffet lunch.

To RSVP call 650.377.5803 or email Eva Fallis at Efallis@srgnc.com.

For more information, visit sunnyvale.ca.gov/HotTopics/DowntownDevelopment.aspx