GARDEN GROVE : 2 Redevelopment Projects Canceled

Two long-anticipated redevelopment projects have been in effect canceled, as the City Council has released the developers from agreements they say they cannot fulfill.

The City Council, acting as the Agency for Community Development, voted Monday to end its development agreement with Pelican Properties of Santa Ana for a development on a 6.8-acre site on the north side of Garden Grove Boulevard between Brookhurst and Nelson streets. The company had planned to construct offices and buildings for light industry. It has been in default of its agreement since Oct. 26, the date by which it was supposed to have put down a deposit for the purchase price of the site with the city.

Dorothy Doan, president of Pelican Properties, told the council that obtaining financing had been difficult because of the “saturated office market” and “the deteriorating ability of tenants to pay for new office space.”

The council Monday also ended its agreement with IDM of Long Beach for the development of an 8.5-acre site at the northwest corner of Euclid Street and Garden Grove Boulevard downtown. IDM had been in default of its development agreement since Oct. 22. The company had failed to submit required construction drawings for the project, which was to have included a five-story office building, a restaurant and shops.

IDM also cited the depressed financial outlook for its default.

In a related action, the council voted to buy the closed Acacia Restaurant property next to the Euclid-Garden Grove site, and it allocated $650,000 for that purpose.

In addition, the council directed the city’s redevelopment staff to explore the possibilities, residential building among them, for uses for the Brookhurst-Garden Grove Boulevard site. Both parcels have been largely vacant for more than a decade.