Alhambra : Advice on Auto Row Bonds

The Alhambra City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, has voted to retain bond counsel and a financial consultant as preliminary steps in raising the $14 million needed to complete the city’s auto row, a projected half-mile strip along Main Street that would accommodate most of the city’s auto dealers.

There are nine new- and used-car dealerships along the strip between Atlantic Boulevard and Raymond Avenue, and four other dealerships have expressed an interest in moving there.

City Manager Kevin Murphy said the bond counsel and financial consultant will work out legal and fiscal plans for selling the bonds necessary to finance acquisition of land, demolition of existing buildings and relocation of affected residents and businesses. Before any bonds are sold, the plan will be voted on by the Redevelopment Agency. Murphy estimated that bonds could go on sale as early as May. “Our projections say auto row will create $1 million in additional sales tax to the city each year,” Murphy said.