New restaurants and hundreds of much-needed apartments could be coming to Poway's main road.
But that proposal could also spell the end for Poway Fun Bowl, a longtime hangout for friends and local families.
Fairfield Housing is proposing to buy the Alley's land and the Carriage Center strip mall next door - to build 216 apartments, 13,000 square-feet of commercial space, and a public plaza.
The Poway City Council is holding an information session on Tuesday, and will give the developer feedback on the idea.
Both the alley's owner and the mall management stressed that this is nothing close to a done deal, and that both have no immediate plans to close.
"Although people have expressed an interest in redeveloping the site, the owner is not currently under contract to sell the property," said Bobby Israel, the mall's property manager.
Fairfield Housing didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
Casey Nezhoda, who owns Bargain Hunter's Thrift Shop in the mall, said there's been confusion among many of the mom-and-pop owners about what's next.
"Because it’s been kind of like a guessing game, of well, what’s going to happen with our shopping center?" she said, noting moving 7,000 square feet of merchandise would be a lot of work.
But Andrew Weiss, who was shopping in the mall, said the project sounds like a good opportunity.
"This mall's a little bit old, so redevelopment would be nice, plus Poway's a great place to be," he said. "This would be a nice opportunity to make more housing."
The Poway City Council meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
