BREA : Church Makes Way for Redevelopment

After close to two years of delay, the downtown redevelopment project is moving ahead with the relocation by early next month of the Brea Foursquare Gospel Church to a temporary site, officials said.

Although Craig/Watt Development Co. has yet to secure financing for the 50-acre project, the Brea Redevelopment Agency is making plans to start grading at least 30 acres.

The City Council will consider today a proposal to invite bids for the grading work, estimated to cost $1.7 million, and to hire a mediator to help resolve problems with downtown property owners who have been reluctant to sell.

Relocation of the Brea Foursquare Gospel Church and the child-care center it operates on West Birch Street and Walnut Avenue is the first significant step in the urban renewal project.

A lawsuit filed by a coalition of businesses had delayed it, but the suit has been settled. Officials hope the hiring of lawyer Richard Del Guercio as mediator will facilitate the sale of properties.

The Brea Redevelopment Agency will spend close to $350,000 to move the church to a temporary site on Brea Boulevard, according to Redevelopment Services Director Sue Georgino.

Georgino said work on the temporary site is now almost complete and the church may be able to move within the next two weeks.

The $350,000 brings to $3.5 million the amount the agency will spend to first move the church to a temporary location, and eventually to a permanent site on Ash Street and Brea Boulevard.

Church and city officials signed an agreement in February, in which the church was paid $1.06 million to exchange its 28,000-square-foot property for a 65,000-square-foot city-owned parcel at the Brea Boulevard and West Ash Street, officials said.