NEW MALL: THINK BIG BURBANK GIANT TO BOOST TAX BASE.Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer BURBANK - Less than eight months after breaking ground on the former Lockheed Skunk skunk, name for several related New World mammals of the weasel family, characterized by their conspicuous black and white markings and use of a strong, highly offensive odor for defense. Works site, the first stores are scheduled to open this month at the Burbank Empire Center, touted as the city's biggest commercial project. Anchored by major discount stores, with a mix of other retail shops, the complex is expected to generate about $3.2 million a year in sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. revenue for the city of Burbank, and as many as 3,500 local jobs. ``The Empire Center will be the largest sales-tax generator in the city, probably larger than the (Burbank Media Center) mall,'' City Manager Robert ``Bud'' Ovrom said. The 160,000-square-foot Target Greatland store - one of the largest in California - will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5:45 p.m. Oct. 8, with the public opening set for Oct. 10. Lowe's Home Improvement will be the next to open, officials say, probably by the end of October. Costco has relocated its local store to the corner of Victory Place and Burbank Boulevard, where it will open Wednesday. While technically not part of the Empire Center, most officials consider it part of the development because of its close proximity to the rest of the stores. The complex - bordered by Empire Avenue, Buena Vista Street, Victory Place and Victory Boulevard Victory Boulevard is a major thoroughfare on Staten Island, measuring approximately 8.0 miles (12.87 km) and stretching from the west shore community of Travis to the upper east shore communities of St. George and Tompkinsville. - also will include Marshall's, Michael's, Linen-N-Things, Staples, Shoe Pavilion Shoe Pavilion is an off-price footwear retailer based in Sherman Oaks, CA. It operates 108 stores throughout the Western and Southwestern areas of the United States. History The company was founded in 1979 and is based in Sherman Oaks, California. and Best Buy stores. Brett Foy, vice president of Zelman Development Co., which built the center, said most of the tenants plan to open by mid-November. Sears Great Indoors and Sportmart are slated to open early next year. Plans call for the $160 million, 1.4-million-square-foot development to also feature offices, restaurants and two hotels. ``Because of the location of the project along the 5 Freeway, it will draw from the surrounding San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. region and well into Glendale for support, bringing new-sales tax dollars into the city,'' said Susan Georgino, Burbank's community development director. ``These kind of stores are value-oriented stores at a time when value is a necessity, which positions us well for the economic adjustment period we're going through now.'' The aviation theme of the center pays tribute to Lockheed, which for decades manufactured aircraft on the site. Each of the outdoor signs features a replica Earlier document exchange software from Farallon Communications, Inc. that converted a Windows or Mac document into a proprietary viewing format. The viewer could be distributed separately or embedded within the document itself, turning it into a single-document viewer. of a Lockheed aircraft This is a list of aircraft produced or proposed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation from its founding as the Lockheed Aircraft Company in 1926 to its merging with Martin Marietta to form the Lockheed Martin Corporation in 1995. , while the mall design brings to mind an airport, complete with a miniature control tower. Ovrom said that Burbank was an ideal location for the center because it has the space to accommodate such a large project, adding that the city took precautions precautions Infectious disease The constellation of activities intended to minimize exposure to an infectious agent; precautions imply that the isolation of an infected Pt is optional, but not mandatory. to bring in stores that weren't previously available in Burbank. ``The San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. (Valley) area is very underserved by these kind of big-box developments because it is hard to find this much open land,'' Ovrom said. ``But, we tried to be sensitive by getting stores that wouldn't be competitive with other stores in town.'' CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) A worker frames a building for the new Empire Center, a shopping complex with an aircraft theme that recalls the land's prior use as a Lockheed industrial site. (2) Crews smooth concrete for the Burbank Empire Center, which expects to have its first stores open this month. Michael Owen
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