GLENDALE : Redevelopment Plan Gains Momentum
After two years of waiting, Glendale city officials said Tuesday they hope that plans to revitalize a run-down, two-block section of the city’s downtown with a new, modern shopping center are finally picking up steam.
The Glendale Redevelopment Agency voted to negotiate with Regent/Tolkin, a Santa Monica-based development partnership, over the next three months to build the proposed Glendale Marketplace, an entertainment-oriented outdoor retail center with multiscreen cinemas near Brand Boulevard and Broadway.
“Our intent is to negotiate all the terms and have a development agreement ready to sign at the end of 90 days,” said Kirk Pelser, a project manager with the agency.
However, officials conceded there are no guarantees that the marketplace, originally tackled by another developer in 1993 and inherited by Regent/Tolkin earlier this year, will go forward.
The development firm has obtained options to buy about one-third of the required land not already owned by the Redevelopment Agency, but there are still several properties that must be acquired. And there are other business terms that must be worked out--including the amount of money the agency will contribute to the project.
The developer’s representatives have estimated the total cost of the land needed for the project will be $7.2 million, while the maximum loan that can be obtained for that purpose has been pegged at $4.3 million to $5.5 million.
Redevelopment officials said the agency will probably have to bridge the gap with up to $2.5 million.
Still, agency member Eileen Givens said Tuesday that amount “sounds like a bargain” when compared to land subsidies laid out by other cities, such as Burbank’s $30-million investment in a Bullock’s department store.
“We have to remember that this investment will eventually come back to us in the form of increased sales taxes,” Givens said.
Redevelopment officials said they are looking at a total investment of up to $11 million in the project, when the construction of a multilevel parking garage and other costs are factored in.
Plans for the mall include a multiplex cinema, three or four major retailers ranging from electronics to sporting goods to fashion, and restaurants. Smaller boutique stores and a plaza area have been cut from the plans, officials said.
Doug Brown, an official with Regent/Tolkin, also said that there is “strong interest” in the project from major retailers, some of whom have signed letters of intent to help the builder obtain construction financing.
