Proposed in plans to be considered next month by the Toledo plan commission is a net gain of 256,000 square feet of space, including a redesigned wing on the south side of the mall where the shuttered Jacobson's store is; adding 450 to 500 parking spaces using possibly two parking decks; and moving the food court to the new south wing.

The project would involve demolishing the vacant Jacobson's store and replacing it with a new wing, adding 80,000 square feet to the front of the Dillard's department store, demolishing the Franklin Mall 6 theaters in front of the mall, and adding two parking decks where there is surface parking, one between Dillard's and Marshall Field's and one between J.C. Penney and the new wing. Each deck would be two stories.

Possible new stores identified on the plans include a Galyan's Trading Post, a sporting goods store, and a Pottery Barn. The mall also would add stores in the spots where the existing food court restaurants are and proposes to have a cinema complex in the new wing.

The changes would significantly reshape and bring new stores to the 30-year-old mall, a 1.1 million-square foot center between Monroe Street and Sylvania Avenue on the east side of Talmadge Road in West Toledo.

Franklin Park, one of four major malls in the metro area, has long been considered the area's premier shopping spot. Its last major expansion was in 1993, when the Dillard's wing was added.

No price tag on the project was available from Westfield, but one local real-estate expert pegged it at least $30 million.

A Westfield spokesman yesterday confirmed the company plans to expand, but had no further comment. The mall's manager, Todd Hipler, also had no comment.

Westfield, a Los Angeles unit of Westfield Trust of Australia which bought the mall eight months ago, filed its plans this week with the city. The proposal is to be on the Jan. 9 agenda of the plan commission and could get final approval, barring major design or zoning problems, by April.

Toledo Mayor Jack Ford said the plans were ‘‘very exciting'' and that the city would stand ready to help Westfield, although it had not been asked to do anything.

‘‘They're a real big international outfit and I think they know where they want to go with this.” he said. “We'll work with them as much as we can.''

Steve Serchuk, a Toledo retail real estate expert with Signature Associates Realty, said the project is a great opportunity for new retailers to move into Toledo. For example, restaurants P.F. Chang's Chinese Bistro and The Cheesecake Factory have been trying to get into Franklin Park for years, he said.

‘‘My guess is the new space will probably be 90 to 100 percent occupied before they even open because there's always been more demand than space available at Franklin Park.”

Mr. Serchuk, a member of the Toledo plan commission, pegged the project costs at more than $30 million, saying the parking decks alone could cost $10 million.

Store operators at Franklin Park said yesterday they had no knowledge of Westfield's plans, although there have been plenty of rumors.

“We don't know anything about anything,” said Pretzel Stop owner Bob Shern.

Ray Martinek, manager of the mall's J.C. Penney store, said management hasn't told him about any renovation. “I hope it's going to happen - we're all for that,” he said. “It definitely would help the mall.”

While the Jacobson's site is proposed to be torn down, it is owned by Dillard's, which bought it at an auction in May and said it would move its home store at Westgate Village Shopping Center to the site. That has not occurred, leading to speculation in the real-estate community that Dillard's was negotiating with Westfield to swap the Jacobson's site in return for the deed to its department store site which it leases from the mall owner.

Among the unknowns is what will become of Dillard's Home Store at Westgate. Officials from Dillard's headquarters in Little Rock did not return calls seeking comment yesterday. The Chicago company that owns Westgate said yesterday it knows nothing of Dillard's plans. “They'll contact us and let us know what they're going to do,” said Todd Valentine, chief operating officer of Abbell Credit Corp.

The Franklin Park project also proposes to remove the theaters in front of the mall that are owned by National Amusements, Inc., because they would be too close to the expanded Dillard's. A spokesman for the theater chain declined comment yesterday on whether the firm would move into the expanded mall or tear down its cinema out front.

The Dedham, Mass., company, which controls virtually all of the theaters in metro Toledo, recently submitted plans to the city to build a 16-screen, stadium-seating theater complex nearby on Secor Road at I-475 and told residents in that area it hadn't decided whether to keep the Franklin Mall 6 theater. That plan is pending city approval.

Before Westfield can proceed, it will have to comply with traffic, zoning, and utility issues. The company has submitted a traffic study, said Gene Naujock, administrator of planning for the Toledo plan commission. ‘‘The two big issues likely will be transportation and in all likelihood, dealing with storm water runoff,'' he said.

The plans mention the possible expansion later of Marshall Field's store, one of the mall anchors. Suggested is up to 80,000 more square feet.

While the plans identify Galyan's as a new store, a Galyan's spokesman said that doesn't mean for certain it will locate there.

“Our guys in real estate look all over the United States. There is nothing signed, definite, or approved,” said Lisa Hepworth, of Indianapolis-based Galyan's.

The addition of Galyan's, if finalized, raises questions about the future of the proposed Mall at Fallen Timbers in Maumee. That project, proposed by General Growth Properties of Chicago, had Galyan's as one of five anchors. It is not expected the chain would build more than one store in the Toledo area.

A General Growth executive could not be reached for comment yesterday, but the Maumee mall, which is not yet under construction, has had three other named anchors waver on their commitment. Dillard's has backed out, and Sears Roebuck & Co. and J.C. Penney are instead considering locating in a redeveloped Southwyck Shopping Center in South Toledo.

Of the Franklin Park project, Dave Long, a commercial real estate agent with CB Richard Ellis Reichle/Klein in Springfield Township, said it should easily boost profits of retailers there.

‘‘I'd say they can count on a 25 to 30 percent increase in sales,'' he said.

Stores near Franklin Park should benefit, too.

‘‘It will have a ripple effect on all the area properties,” he added. “Those property owners will see a significant appreciation in value and when they turn their tenants over, they will be able to raise their rents to meet the new market rents.''

Blade business writers Julie M. McKinnon and Mary-Beth McLaughlin contributed to this story.

First Published December 14, 2002, 11:09 a.m.