Described as a Venetian-style complex designed to suggest the Piazza of San Marco in Venice, Italy, the development will target national retailers and specialty shops as tenants for the retail portion of the project. The condominiums will be designed to be affordable for first-time home buyers and retirees.

Leasing agents for the property, Jeremy Jurow and Peter Yousefi of Grubb & Ellis, say that amenities will include a food court featuring international restaurants, an outdoor entertainment area, a children's play area and facilities for banquets or meetings. The design calls for the anchor tenant spaces to range from 15,000 sf to 30,000 square feet, with retail, food and shop spaces from 1,000 sf to 6,800 sf and restaurant spaces from 2,500 sf to 9,500 sf.

The project is the design of the architectural firm Team Design Studio, with construction to be managed by Jay Liyanage, senior project manager of Zanjay Developments LLC.

Wang notes that the Piazza Las Tunas project has the unanimous support of Temple City's City Council, in large part because the center will bring in tax revenue from the retail operations and create 150 new jobs. Cities in California, often depending heavily on retail tax revenues for a significant portion of their budgets, have welcomed retail and mixed-use projects in recent years.