City Gets $4 Million for Stake in Retail Center
The city has agreed to sell its stake in Westminster Center, a retail plaza at Westminster Boulevard and Golden West Street, for about $4 million.
The city’s Redevelopment Agency purchased 6.3 acres of property at the center in 1991 as part of an agreement with IDM Retail Development Corp. of Long Beach.
IDM went out of business before the center’s completion, and the project was taken over by a Mill Valley developer. That company, S&P; Co., expanded the center from 26 acres to 41 acres and made improvements at a cost of about $50 million, said Don Anderson, community development director.
With the redevelopment nearly complete, city officials have been negotiating to sell the city’s portion of the property to S&P.; The $4 million, officials said, was the same price the city paid for the land in 1991.
“This is a very, very good deal for the city,” Councilwoman Charmayne S. Bohman said after joining her council colleagues Tuesday in unanimous approval of the sale. “That property was purchased at a time when property all over Orange County . . . was at a considerably higher value than it is now.”
The center, officials said, is projected to generate about $500,000 a year in sales tax revenue for the city and several hundred thousand more in property taxes.
Westminster Center’s major tenants are Home Depot, Lucky supermarket, Hollytron, Thrifty Drug, Crown Books and an Edwards movie theater complex.
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