HAYWARD -- Look for a Cost Plus World Market coming to a theater near you.

That's what a developer announced Tues-day night as part of the presentation to the City Council on a proposed downtown movie theater complex.

The newly named "Cinema Place" project at the corner of B Street and Foothill Boulevard is considered a linchpin in city efforts to breathe new life into downtown.

"This is a major advancement for downtown revitalization," Hayward Chamber of Commerce President Scott Raty said Wednes-day, adding that the project seems more certain with anchor tenants. "It will be a magnet for downtown. It's a real jump-starter."

Brad Blake of the Danville-based Blake-Hunt Ventures said Cost Plus has signed a letter of intent to lease an 18,000- to 19,000-square-foot space in the proposed project on city-owned property at the corner of B Street and Foothill Boulevard. Cost Plus, an import retailer, already has locations nearby in Fremont, Pleasanton and Oakland.

A major movie theater company also has signed a letter of intent to open a 12-screen movie theater with stadium seating and a state-of-the-art sound system, Blake said. But he agreed not to announce the name of the movie theater tenant until the end of the month. The tenant asked for a little time to get the news out first to its distributors and other clients, Blake said.

With the anchor tenants in place, Blake ex- pects to get more interest from other potential retail tenants, especially restaurants for whom a movie theater is a major draw, he said. They likely would be chain restaurants that can afford the higher rent and would lure more independent store owners to enliven the rest of B Street, he said.

"With 10,000 people walking around there, they're going to say, 'I'm going to get some of them in here,'" Blake said.

The target date for opening Cinema Place is the 2005 Christmas season, Blake said. But he and city officials agree that's ambitious and would require detailed plans to be submitted and approved by August.

Blake presented the council with a site plan for the 113,000-square-foot project, highlighting its pedestrian-friendly orientation onto B Street. His firm currently is working on the more detailed architectural plans, he said.

Council members expressed initial support for that proposal but offered their own suggestions. Councilman Joe Hilson, for example, wants to see something in more of an old-style architecture, whereas Councilman Kevin Dowling is looking for something more modern. Mayor Roberta Cooper just wants to see it well-integrated with the rest of B Street.

"We wouldn't want something that is crass," she said.

While he couldn't offer details, Blake assured the council that the design will be high-quality, attractive and nothing like "something you would find in a big suburban shopping center."

Early plans call for a ground level that houses up to nine shops, including Cost Plus. Upstairs would be the movie theater and up to three retailers, Blake said.

Behind the retail center, along C Street, there would be a two-level parking structure with about 200 spaces for shoppers and diners only. Drivers would enter this structure via an alley off B or C street, and parking there would be limited to 60 or 90 minutes, he said.

Moviegoers would park in one of the nearby municipal lots or in the parking structure the city plans to build to go with the project across the street on the existing Municipal Lot No. 2.

Redevelopment Director Maret Bartlett presented early plans for that garage, which would add about 165 parking spots to the 700 existing spaces downtown. Council members said they liked the concept, especially the embellishments and arches that make the structure look more like a build-ing than a garage.

Bartlett warned the council that the garage construction, which will take about a year, will be a disruption for downtown parkers and businesses that won't be able to use the municipal lot.

Those affected by the closure of the lot are encouraged to attend the City Council's Downtown Committee meeting at 7 p.m. Jan. 26 at City Hall, Work Session Room 2A, 777 B St.

City Manager Jesus Armas recognized the unavoidable disruption but said the city will try to make it easier by getting the word out about other nearby parking options.

"It's a great problem to have," Raty said. "In 15 months, we'll have a new parking structure that will be a tremendous benefit to the city."

B Street photographer Steve Rubiolo likened the future parking situation to the recent sidewalk improvements, which "raised hell with customers" but are worth it in the long run, he said. He's still waiting for customers to return and is confident the Cost Plus will do the trick, particularly for women shoppers.

"Now you could shoot a cannon down B Street and not even hit anyone," he said.

Community activist Al Mendall, who wasn't surprised by the Cost Plus announcement, said the theater project has captivated the interest of all types of residents, "even people not involved in politics."

"Hayward doesn't have the best reputation," he said, adding that this project might fuel their pride.