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A man who was part of the original team behind San Jose's Santana Row is returning for a year's engagement and possibly more.
Nate Fishkin left Federal Realty Investment Trust, Santana's owner, just More than a year ago as part of an internal housecleaning that also ended the tenure of Federal's 25-year chief executive, Steve Guttman. Mr. Guttman and Mr. Fishkin are friends as well as former business colleagues and have been most closely aligned with Santana's conception and birth.
Mr. Fishkin is returning to again head leasing and merchandising for the development, which has experienced great success but also some stumbles since it opened in late 2002. Retailers, especially the smaller, home-grown shopkeepers that give the center some of its unique flavor, are greeting his arrival with unmitigated joy They say they are not dissatisfied with the current staff, but that Mr. Fishkin enjoys the passion of an originator and an ability to find opportunity that others miss.
"If you write half a novel or you paint half a picture, the next person can't really finish it for you. The chance for Nate to execute entirely was cut short," says Eduardo Rallo, business manager for Cazuelas Mexican Bistro, a 3,000-square-foot restaurant that opened in April at the development.
"Obviously, he has been able to draw the Guccis and the Ferragamos of the world, and that's tough because they have some very, very stiff criteria. But to create a mix of retail that is not the typical mall experience, that is vision. That's much harder to do. It's much easier to go to The Gap and the 20 other stores that every mall in America has."
Cazuelas's success has been so great, Mr. Rallo says, that he and...