Pasadena Council Denies $71,000 Loan for Mall Developer

The Pasadena City Council has rejected a demand from developer Danny Bakewell’s company for a $71,000 loan to pay for clearing a city-owned site where he is planning to build a supermarket shopping center.

The council, which already agreed to sell the property that cost the city about $11 million to Bakewell for just $1.5 million, refused Monday to provide any additional funds for the project. The council previously agreed to give Bakewell $122,000 to clear the site at of Fair Oaks Avenue and Orange Boulevard of the existing run-down buildings.

“This is a line in the sand,” said Councilman William Crowfoot, who has otherwise supported Bakewell’s Fair Oaks Renaissance Plaza project.

“If this whole deal goes away over $71,000, then some people out there may be right,” Crowfoot said. Critics have charged that the redevelopment project is too costly and is a gift of public funds to Bakewell and his partners.

In a letter to the city, Bakewell said he needed the $71,000 for asbestos removal, City Manager Phil Hawkey said. Bakewell said that a loan of about $6 million from his bank will not arrive by May 31, the city-imposed deadline for the removal of the existing buildings. Bakewell wants a bridge loan to move forward. The council voted 4 to 3 to support Hawkey’s recommendation to reject the loan request.

Hawkey also revealed that Bakewell has yet to sign the new amended development agreement approved by the council in March at his request. However, Vons has officially signed a lease with Bakewell’s Pasadena Commercial Development Co. to anchor the center that is scheduled to be completed by October 1997, he said.

Hawkey said he still expects Bakewell to demolish the existing buildings by the end of May because it is part of the new development agreement. Bakewell was not available for comment. . . .