Results tagged “Long Beach Redevelopment Agency” from Press Corps

The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency board this morning unanimously approved the $2.8 million purchase of the Promenade property once slated for a four-star, 165-room boutique hotel project called Hotel Esterel.

The deal, which includes a 15 percent contingency amount for closing costs and other related expenses, brings to an end D'Orsay International Partners, LLC's 27-year pursuit of developing a project on 139 E. Broadway and 201-239 The Promenade North.

In 1982, the developer Alain Sarfatti and a financial partner paid $2.25 million for a 30,000-square-foot parcel that included an 8-story building that once housed the former Barker Brothers furniture store. (The building has since been demolished and what sits there today is a parking lot.)

Over the years, several concepts had been planned for the property, including:
* A mixed-use office and retail project called Promenade Plaza, which fell after investors hoping to reap big from the DisneySea project pulled out after Disney quit its plans;
* A residential high-rise prothat called for a 10-floor building with 140 condominiums above ground-floor retail; and
* An 11-story, 230-room hotel with ground-floor retail space called Hotel D'Orsay, which ran into financial snags following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Rising costs prompted developers to scale down the hotel project, resulting in its latest incarnation, Hotel Esterel.

"He proceeded with full plans and was ready to pull a building permit, and of course the market collapsed," said Redevelopment Bureau Manager Amy Bodek.

Last spring, the agency began talks to acquire the property from the developer, who has been unable to finance his project. Sarfatti could not be reached for comment Monday.

"We've wanted to see development occur there for so long it's almost been palatable," Bodek said. "This is the remaining gap on the Promenade and we can't afford to let it sit there and be a parking lot for the next 10, 15 years. This was an opportunity for us to get control of the site."

Bodek said the agency will issue a Request for Proposal from developers in the coming months, exploring another hotel or residential concept.

The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency, City Councilman Dee Andrews and about 200 Poly High School students and administrators will celebrate the improvements of a once blight intersection and launch neighborhood clean-up efforts on National Make A Difference Day.

The event will be at 8 a.m. on Saturday Oct. 24 at the southeast corner of Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway.

According to the city press release:

The RDA removed a blighted commercial property to clear land for open space to serve as a gateway for Poly High School. The space incorporates sustainable principles such as the use of native landscaping and recycled concrete, and new trees. A right turn lane was created to alleviate traffic congestion at this busy intersection, and a staff parking lot was improved.  Additionally, fence fabric was installed across the street as part of the RDA's Screening Project.

Does Pine Avenue need more trees or places to sit? Would adding more lighting affect the street's image?

On Aug. 17, residents and merchants will get to weigh in on a project that seeks to improve the look of Long Beach's iconic business corridor.

The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency has launched the Pine Avenue Streetscape Improvement Project in an effort to improve the area around Pine Avenue in downtown Long Beach.

The project will look at improvements on Pine Avenue from Shoreline Drive to Eighth Street, as well as Third Street from Pacific Avenue to Long Beach Boulevard; Broadway from Pacific to Long Beach Boulevard and First Street from Pacific to Elm Avenue.

"Design solutions will focus on streetscape improvements including improved sidewalks, pedestrian scale lighting, street trees and related landscaping, decorative hardscapes, public art and a palette of street furniture that provides a desirable identity to the experience of all street users," according to the RDA Web site.

The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. on Aug. 17 at First Congregational Church, 241 Cedar Ave. Call 562-570-6615 or e-mail RDA@longbeach.gov for more.

City and redevelopment officials on Saturday will celebrate $1.8 million in infrastructure improvements in the Arts District with the debut of 92 new energy-efficient light posts.

The event, which will feature Mayor Bob Foster, 2nd District City Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, Redevelopment Agency Vice Chairperson Diane Arnold and East Village Association President Richard Lewis, will take place at 7:45 p.m. in front of Utopia Restaurant, 445 E. 1st St.

The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency Board on Monday voted to cooperate with the League of California Cities and the California Redevelopment Association in their fight against the state, which is seeking to take nearly $30 million in redevelopment funds from Long Beach RDA's 2010 budget.

The amount accounts for a little more than half the agency's discretionary and housing set-aside funds (money the agency must set aside to pay for affordable housing).

Both entities are alleging that the state action is unconstitutional.

For Long Beach, making the $30 million payment to the state would mean possibly postponing or killing projects from next year's budget.

While specific projects are not yet known since redevelopment officials have not said which projects will be affected.

Residents tonight can hear more about the ArtExchange being built on the former Acres of Books property and weigh in on the project's environmental impact.

City Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency and the ArtExchange Board of Directors will be on hand to discuss the collaborative art facility project proposed for the southeast corner of Third Street and Long Beach Boulevard.

They'll provide some history of the project, and the architect will do a presentation with more details. The staff also will discuss the project's process under the California Environmental Quality Act.

Long Beach Redevelopment Agency board members earlier this year moved forward with plans to build an art exchange at 240 Long Beach Blvd., which Acres of Books called its home for nearly 50 of its 74 years in business.

Similar to the Torpedo Factory art center in Alexandria, Va., and InCUBATE in Chicago, an art exchange provides a space where visitors can buy art, attend classes and watch artists at work.

The project is about 10,850 square feet of building area with nearly 6,000 square feet in new floor area and would include studios, classrooms and a hot shop for glass blowers and ceramics. Plans for the ArtExchange would incorporate part of Acres' facade.

The meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. at the Museum of Latin American Art, 628 Alamitos Ave. E-mail info@eastvillagelongbeach.com for more information.

If you want your voice to be heard on one of the city's biggest public projects, don't forget to send them to the state by 5 p.m. today.

State officials has been seeking feedback on an environmental report they did on the proposed courthouse project. Slated for completion by 2012, the new courthouse would be a 545,000-square-foot building with 31 civil and criminal courtrooms, county office space, retail space and a basement that will include a sally port or controlled-entry space and an in-custody holding facility.

The state and the Redevelopment Agency are hammering out the terms of a land-exchange agreement that would give the agency 415 W. Ocean Blvd., site of the current courthouse, for future development in exchange for the vacant property bordered by Broadway, Maine Avenue, Third Street and Magnolia Avenue.

While ultimate approval belongs to the state, the agency and the community have been able to inject their views about the project's design. This is one of those opportunities.

First District City Councilman Robert Garcia has been beating the drum on this:

More than 100 residents responded to Councilman Robert Garcia's call for public comments on the new Long Beach Courthouse project currently being planned by the State Administrative Office of the Courts. The number of letters represents more than five times the number of attendees at the only public meeting held by the State on this project, which occurred last Monday, at which fewer than 20 residents were present.
The campaign began just a week ago, and the letters were sent today, just in time for the 5pm deadline.
"The Courthouse project will have a huge impact on our community, and we want to ensure the impact is positive," said the Councilmember. "We want a building that is environmentally responsible, physically inspiring, and well-managed. We want to make sure local jobs are created and public safety protected." 

Garcia has posted a form letter outlining these issues at www.robertgarcia.com for residents.

Members of the public can alter, delete or entirely rewrite the letter and put their names on it. After the letters are submitted on the Web site, Garcia said he will forward all of them to the state Monday.

For a copy of the report, visit www.courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/occm/projects_lalongbeach.htm or contact Jerome Ripperda at jerry.ripperda@jud.ca.gov 

The new Long Beach Courthouse will be more than a building with four concrete walls but one that will be sustainable, incorporate public art and be architecturally sound, state officials said Wednesday.

Officials from the state Judicial Council's Administrative Office of the Courts, the lead agency on the courthouse project, spoke with residents about the results of a California Environmental Quality Act analysis and gave more insight on what would be built on the two-block property bordered by Broadway, Maine Avenue, Third Street and Magnolia Avenue.

Currently three architecture firms are competing for the opportunity to work on the project, which would be a 545,000-square-foot building that will accommodate the 31 civil and criminal courtrooms, county office space, retail space and a basement that will include a sally port and an in-custody holding facility.

These firms are to submit proposals by Oct. 26.

Replacing the aging, dilapidated crowded courthouse has been a priority for the state judicial council, which recently set aside funds to help pay for the project.

The plan involves a land swap between the state and the Redevelopment Agency, which would give the state the West Gateway land in exchange for the property on 415 W. Ocean Blvd. for future development.

Just found out from the California Redevelopment Association that the state plans to appeal the Sacramento Superior Court's decision that ruled the state violated the Constitution when it required redevelopment agencies to fund $350 million in state obligations.

The state filed the appeal late Tuesday and CRA, which sued the state on behalf of other redevelopment agencies in California, says the process may take longer than a year.

What does this mean for the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency? Would they now have to make a $6 million ERAF payment?

I'll post more details as I hear them.

Some in the neighborhood do. The blighted property at 1827 Pacific Ave. had been the site of 2,665 calls for police service from January 2004 to mid-2008, including rape, assault, car-jacking, drugs and other crimes, according to the city.

Now it's owned by the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency, which plans to merge the land with other nearby properties for parking and retail.

Today, 6th District City Councilman Dee Andrews and the RDA will erase the remnants of blight with a ceremonial demolition. 

Do you Tweet? Long Beach Development Services does.

LBDS, which includes the Redevelopment Agency, is now on popular social networking Web sites Twitter and Facebook.

The department's Facebook page, which has more than 400 FB friends, began about two months ago and includes information about blight demolishing, community events and the latest RDA news.

"It's about the community and how we're encouraging them to be part of the RDA and be engaged in the RDA process," said Development Services Director Craig Beck.

The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency may not have to pay the state $6.1 million after all.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly on Thursday ruled in favor of redevelopment agencies, saying it was unconstitutional for the state to ask them to shell out $350 million to fund state obligations.
The California Redevelopment Association, a nonprofit that has about 360 RDAs as members including Long Beach, sued the state in December over the one-time payment of redevelopment dollars to the state to trim its deficit.
The suit claims Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers violated the constitution when they required the redevelopment agencies to contribute more for education programs so the state could pay less.
CRA Executive Director John Shirey called the decision "a win for redevelopment agencies."
"Obviously the state is dealing with very difficult financial problems, but taking away local government redevelopment funds is unconstitutional," Shirey said in a statement. "Not only are these raids unconstitutional, as validated today by the Superior Court, but they're also poor policy during a recession when those funds should stay in communities to generate jobs and economic activity that we desperately need."
Meanwhile, H.D. Palmer of the State Department of Finance said they are reexamining the decision and considering their legal options. Whether the state will appeal the decision has not yet been determined.

Read more about it in Saturday's Press-Telegram.

The agency's recent promotional and outreach efforts earned big kudos from the California Redevelopment Association, which awarded the agency the 2009 Awards of Excellence in the Education, Marketing & Publications category, the RDA announced today.

The RDA's marketing and communications campaign, "Building a Better Long
Beach,"  - which included a new Web site and a half-hour cable program, "Inside Long Beach" - will be recognized at the association's annual conference April in Monterey.

The guy famous for building custom motorcycles is working on a different kind of metal project: the planters on Pine Avenue.

The West Coast Choppers owner will be working with the Redevelopment Agency on sprucing up four tree planters at Broadway and Pine. The new decorative feature should be up by Christmas.

"I've been noticing some of the projects that the city has been working on, and thought we could do a way better job," said James. "So I reached out to the city and offered to take on these projects."

Read more about it in Wednesday's Press-Telegram.

City, business and community leaders will discuss retail opportunities and recruitment efforts downtown at a community forum on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel.

The forum will include 2nd District City Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal and representatives from the Redevelopment Agency, Downtown Long Beach Associates and the Downtown Residential Council, a new coalition of neighborhood and homeowners associations.

The meeting comes at the heels of public outcry over the state of downtown, including Pine Avenue, a once-booming commercial street with more than two dozen empty storefronts in the heart of downtown.

"What I like to do is initiate an honest dialogue with stakeholders in downtown that results in everyone rowing in the same direction and working together toward a common goal," Lowenthal said. "In talking with city and downtown stakeholders, it became pretty evident that we all needed to know where everyone is -- really be on the same page with the various efforts to addressing retail and economic development."

Lowenthal said the meeting will focus on the thinking behind the city's retail plan.
"People weren't sure what was being done," she said. "They see empty storefronts and there's a perception that nothing's being done.
 
"Well, there's a story behind that empty storefront and I think that's a story that needs to be part of this dialogue, giving the history and the foundation of the retail strategy and the evolution of the retail strategy that the city is working on and what the city can do better through the assistance of these residential stakeholders."

The meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. at 500 E. First St. in Long Beach.

After nearly 75 years in downtown Long Beach, the iconic bookstore on 240 Long Beach Blvd. is no more after Oct. 18.

Owners Phil and Jackie Smith recently sold the 12,500 square-foot property at 240 Long Beach Blvd. to the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency for about $2.8 million.

They are making way for a mixed-used project being built around Broadway, Long Beach Boulevard, Third Street and Elm Avenue. The project - which officials say is key to connecting downtown to the East Village - calls for student housing, retail and an art center for classes, events and art displays.

Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Craig Beck said the agency has been in talks with Cal State Long Beach and hopes to sign an agreement with the university and secure a potential developer in the next few months.

The deal, struck in April after nearly two years of negotiations, allows the Smiths to stay at Acres rent-free until May 1 to give them time to either relocate or to close shop for good. But the option to relocate is looking unlikely, said Jackie Smith. Acres ' new home would have to be at least 10,000 square feet, available for purchase, have ample parking, be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and not located in a redevelopment area.

At 1 p.m. today, Vice Mayor Val Lerch will flip the switch on a new traffic light at Jordan High School.

The light, installed to help improve student safety, was made possible by the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency, which spent $900,000 on medians, a pedestrian signal and crosswalk.

A 1904 home that had to be moved to make way for Chavez Elementary School has found new life on Daisy Avenue.

Today, the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency, the Willmore City Heritage Association and Councilwoman Bonnie Lowenthal will unveil the 419 Daisy Ave. home, the result of an intense restoration process that began about two years ago.

The heritage association, which bought the four-bedroom, two-bathroom home from the RDA for a buck, restored the abode with the help of old photographs from original homeowners.

The home will be placed on the market at an asking price of $595,000, the RDA released.

"The preservation of this house has enabled us to retain a beautiful example of one of the City's oldest architectural styles," said Cheryl Perry, President of the Willmore City Heritage Association.  "It has improved the neighborhood by filling two blighted lots on the block, and I believe it has encouraged preservation on a broader scale throughout the City."

The event begins at 3:30 p.m.

Long Beach Redevelopment Agency's elder statesman will lead the board as its chairman.
Board members this morning appointed Vice Chairman William Baker as chairman, replacing Thomas Fields. Board member Diane Arnold will take on Baker's former title of vice chair. 

A boxing star's housing development company could punch up a corner of North Long Beach if talks go well between the company and redevelopment officials.
The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency today agreed to negotiate exclusively with Golden Pacific Partners to develop housing at the northeast corner of Home Street and Long Beach Boulevard, across the street from the new Dooley Elementary School.
The area used to house the Waite Motel, a liquor store, vacant commercial building and a discount furniture store facing Long Beach Boulevard, and a 6-unit apartment complex on the backside of the block facing Cedar Avenue, according to Redevelopment Project Officer Aldo E. Schindler.
Golden Pacific is a collaboration between John S. Long of Highridge Partners and Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Enterprises who formed a new company "to pursue urban revitalization in America's cities."
Read more about it in Tuesday's Press-Telegram.