Hawthorne to Buy a Site for Firm Displaced by Renewal

The Hawthorne Redevelopment Agency will issue up to $4.5 million in bonds to purchase a 3.2-acre site to relocate a major company likely to be displaced by a $200-million redevelopment project.

Under state law, the Redevelopment Agency has to find new sites for those dislocated by a redevelopment project and help pay relocation expenses. The 20-acre site of the redevelopment project, at Rosecrans Avenue and the San Diego Freeway, is divided among 63 property owners, including Todd Pipe and Supply and other businesses and residences, officials said.

Major Tax Producer

The agency has been particularly concerned about finding a site in Hawthorne large enough to accommodate Todd, one of the city’s top 10 sales-tax producers, officials said.

The city wants to keep Todd in Hawthorne, and the company wants to stay, said Bud Cormier, assistant director of redevelopment.

The city will set aside the 3.2-acre property at 145th Street and Inglewood Avenue as a potential site for Todd in hopes of completing negotiations for a $200-million plan for the 20-acre site, Cormier said. The 3.2 acres had been used by Adolph Coors Co. beer distributors as a storage facility.

If the 20-acre plan is approved, Todd would be reimbursed for its property there and could use those funds to pay the agency for the 3.2-acre site, officials said. If the plan falls through, the agency could sell the 3.2 acres, they said.

While past proposals for the 20-acre site have failed, Cormier said the city hopes to reach an agreement soon that will allow Cloverleaf Group Inc. of Century City to build an “urban village” including condominiums, hotels and stores.

The city hopes to resolve a snag that has arisen because county transportation officials may move a light-rail station that was to have been inside the 20-acre project, Cormier said.

Cloverleaf officials said they had counted on the rail station being in the project area when they drafted their plans.

Negotiations are continuing, and Hawthorne officials will be allowed to give a full presentation to the county Transportation Commission to show why the station should remain on the 20 acres, Cormier said.