Brea : Residential Complex OKd for Downtown
Plans to renovate the city’s downtown are “off and rolling” with the City Council’s approval this week of the first development agreement in the Towne Plaza project.
The council on Tuesday approved a 60-unit residential complex on Poplar Street, south of Birch Street and north of Imperial Highway, on what now is a vacant lot, said Brea Development Services Director William Kelly.
Once completed, the apartments will be “an upper-rent structure” with a typical two-bedroom “very large, well-designed” apartment renting for about $1,000 monthly, Kelly said.
While Manhattan Beach-based J&E; Development Co. expects to begin construction by next spring, the city continues to negotiate with downtown landowners willing to participate in Brea’s face lift.
The plan to upgrade the deteriorating commercial district and surrounding neighborhoods is expected to include a walk-in village retail center with pedestrian walkways, plazas and public parking.
Proposals are still sketchy since many of the business owners--some of whom have been in downtown for over a decade--have expressed mixed feelings on the Towne Plaza project. Under one plan, the city is considering razing structures on a site dubbed “super block”--up to 20 acres--and creating a new commercial district.
City officials said they are serving as a conduit between the businesses and developers. Most of the land being purchased by the city eventually will be sold to developers, Kelly said.
Brea set aside about $1 million for property acquisitions and consultant work, and so far has purchased about 15 properties, Kelly said. Most of those were purchased from absentee landlords and are being leased back to the tenants, he said.
The commercial development is the central feature of Towne Plaza. The 20-acre development would be in an area bounded by Imperial Highway to the south, Birch Street to the north, a flood control channel to the west and Brea Boulevard to the east.
The council approved the concept for Towne Plaza in August.
