Anaheim Makes Tentative Deal for Melodyland Parcel

After months of negotiation, the city of Anaheim has reached a tentative agreement to purchase three acres of the Melodyland Christian Center, which has recently defaulted on about $5 million in loan payments for its prime property next to Disneyland.

The tentative deal, pending City Council approval, includes a key provision that would give the city the right of first refusal on the future sale of the center’s remaining acreage. Also included is an option for the city to purchase Melodyland’s lease on an additional 4 acres next to the worship center.

Although officials declined to reveal the deal’s cost, property values in the area peg the property at nearly $1 million an acre.

City officials say the purchase is not intended as a financial bailout for the center and its pastor, the Rev. Ralph Wilkerson, but only as a means of acquiring land for future city projects.

“The city needs to have many options on pieces of property to be a deal maker,” Mayor Fred Hunter said Tuesday. “I think we have come to an agreement subject to council approval.”

Wilkerson did not return telephone calls to the worship center, but property owners in the area say they have been monitoring default reports on Melodyland property.

The Bank of Yorba Linda filed a default for $4.9 million Jan. 11, while Nostalgia Ventures is listed as filing a default for $200,000 July 10.

The tentative acquisition of the Melodyland property comes at a time when the Walt Disney Co. has been acquiring properties in the area, reportedly in anticipation of the expansion of Disneyland and the addition of a second and possibly a third attraction, along with new hotels.

City Manager James Ruth has said the city’s interest in the property is independent of Disney’s plans.

He said land was initially viewed as a possible location for required parking space so that the city could go ahead with a fourth expansion of the Anaheim Convention Center. The city reportedly needs to show that it can provide parking for up to 1,200 vehicles before embarking on the expansion project.

City Councilman Tom Daly said the property has also been considered as a possible transfer station for an inner-city “people mover” or monorail project now under study that would link the city’s convention center complex, Anaheim Stadium, the yet-to-be-built Sports Arena and Disneyland.