City to Pay $2 Million to Get Galleria Anchor

The Glendale Redevelopment Agency has agreed to pay $2 million to May Co. to raze the former Buffum’s store in the Glendale Galleria and replace it with a $22-million, three-story building that would be twice as large.

Construction on the project is expected to begin within a few weeks and should be completed next fall, said Jim Abrams, vice president of communications for May Department Stores Co. of St. Louis.

Glendale officials said the city’s investment should be recovered from increased sales taxes within three to four years after the opening of the store. The city earned only $90,000 in sales taxes in 1990 from Buffum’s, which filed for bankruptcy last year. May Co. expects to generate at least $400,000 in annual sales taxes, according to a city report.

The agreement, approved Tuesday by the agency, includes a provision that May Co. eventually help build a bridge over Central Avenue from the new store at the northwest corner of Broadway to a site at the northeast side of the intersection, which the city has purchased for future expansion of the Galleria. The bridge would be similar to the span that links Nordstrom and The Broadway.

Jeanne Armstrong, redevelopment director, said May Co. has hired Day Construction of Fountain Valley to build the project.

Representatives of several contractors’ unions appeared before the agency, whose members consist of the five City Council members, to urge the city to carefully monitor the construction project. They charged that some contractors are taking advantage of the slow economy by hiring workers below minimum wage standards and do not provide health-care benefits.

City officials said they are not responsible for awarding contracts but will closely watch the project to see that workers are fairly treated.

The city’s contribution to the cost of the project will be paid after construction is completed.