Downing Center of Los Gatos Sold to Donahue Schriber Realty Group

The Downing Center of Los Gatos, at the corner of Union Avenue and Almaden Road, has been sold to Donahue Schriber Realty Group, L.P., effective Nov 6 for an undisclosed amount of money.

Sacramento-based Donahue Schriber's slogan is, "We Know Retail."

And that's music to the ears of Los Gatos Patch reader Dan Cuschieri, who alerted us about the sale and has kept abreast of the businesses closing at the 72,000-square-foot center, such as Live Oak Kitchen in May.

Donahue Schriber specializes in shopping centers like the Downing Center, Cuschieri said.

"Hopefully this will be an improvement," he added.

Dallas-based venture capital company Crow Holdings, which seemed unable to lease much of the center in recent years, sold the center, he said.

Crow Holdings bought the Downing Center for $28.25 million Jan. 22, 2007.

Last summer, the Colliers International website showed many vacancies at the center.

According to the Town of Los Gatos' website, Downing Center serves the neighborhoods of Belgatos, East Los Gatos and San Jose.

Safeway serves as the anchor tenant and eateries, retailers, and personal services surround it.

"This is such a great shopping center surrounded by an even better neighborhood," Cuschieri said in May. "We need more restaurants and great direct neighborhood serving stores to fill this shopping center since it appears that when the original owners sold the property to another big-business organization a while ago with the decline in the economy, we have seen an exit of businesses from the shopping center."

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