Redevelopers Seek Another Builder : Condo Deal Collapses in Burbank

The Burbank Redevelopment Agency has voted to seek other developers for a troubled redevelopment site in downtown Burbank after one group of developers withdrew a proposal to build condominiums and stores there.

The city has unsuccessfully tried to develop the seven-acre site east of the Burbank Holiday Inn on Angeleno Avenue for five years. But disputes and incomplete negotiations with builders have kept the land vacant.

The latest proposal to develop the land came from the Rothman-Schuster Group. Paul Rothman, a major partner of the group, is the president of Associated Host Co., which built the Bombay Bicycle Club, one of the successful restaurants along Restaurant Row in the downtown Burbank redevelopment area.

Offered City $6.6 Million

Burbank Redevelopment Director Larry Kosmont said Rothman, Jacob Schuster and two minor partners had proposed building a 255-unit apartment complex and about 50,000 square feet of retail shops. The group had approached the agency in January and offered $6.6 million for the land, saying it could complete the project within two years, he said.

“This is not a major setback, but it is a significant one because we have to go back to square one,” Kosmont said of the Tuesday vote to seek new developers. “We really hate to lose the four months we’ve spent trying to get things going with this project.”

The Rothman-Schuster Group had been awarded an exclusive right to the site by the agency, but attempts to conduct further negotiations “were inconsistent at best,” Kosmont said. “We expressed an extreme displeasure with the lack of progress in negotiations.”

He said the group failed to provide an environmental impact report and the letters of credit required for the project.

Withdrew ‘Almost Immediately’

After he expressed his displeasure to the developers earlier this month, “almost immediately thereafter, they contacted me and informed me of their decision to drop out,” Kosmont said.

Kosmont said that, although the two minor partners said they were interested in developing the land, he intended to have discussions with “sizable market-rate residential apartment developers.” He said the land would still be set aside for high-density residential development.