City Gets Final OK for Land Purchase

The city’s redevelopment agency has finalized agreements to buy five buildings in the area of Talbert Avenue and Euclid Street for the proposed Newhope Street extension.

Acting as the Agency for Community Development, the City Council this week gave final approval for the property purchases at a total cost of $6.9 million.

The Newhope extension would connect San Diego Freeway onramps and offramps to the Talbert-Newhope intersection, City Manager Raymond H. Kromer said. Construction would begin in three to five years.

The city is buying the land now, he said, to take advantage of low real estate prices. The city will apply for county transportation grants to pay for the eventual construction, the cost of which has not yet been determined, he said.

With the development of the city’s Southpark area, which includes the Price Club center, the city’s General Plan and its accompanying traffic circulation element recommend a roadway through the commercial and manufacturing area at Euclid and Talbert.

Kromer said the street extension would improve traffic circulation in the Southpark area.

The city negotiated with property owners for the land at 11080-11100 Talbert Avenue and 18080-18110 and 18140 Euclid Street. One purchase agreement is for a 36,000-square-foot building on Talbert, currently leased to a printing company, at a price of $2.2 million.

The city also agreed to buy four buildings on Euclid, totaling 55,690 square feet, at a cost of about $4.7 million. All of the buildings are now leased.

Three of the buildings--two on Euclid and the one on Talbert--will be demolished when theewhope extension begins.