Plan for Main Street Development OKd

The long-anticipated $24-million Main Street development project known as 3rd Block West is moving ahead after nearly seven years of planning, thanks to City Council approval of the development agreement.

But Councilman Dave Sullivan expressed concerns about the selling price of the city-owned land. Sullivan was the only council member who voted against the project Monday night.

“The original price for the land was $4.6 million. Now, 5 1/2 years later, we’re going down to $2.1 million, basically cutting the price of the land in half,” Sullivan said. “At the same time, the project has increased about 20% in size over the original 1991 proposal. I’m really having a lot of trouble with all of this.”

The development agreement provides for the sale of 80,000 square feet of land owned by the city Redevelopment Agency. The land is bounded by Main and 5th streets and Orange and Olive avenues.

JT Development of Huntington Beach plans to begin construction this summer of 45 townhouses and about 40,000 square feet of retail and office space. A smaller project was previously approved by the council in 1991 but abandoned because of economic recession.

City Economic Development Director David C. Biggs called the land deal fair, considering the steep decline of real estate values in recent years. He also said the original selling price of the land was actually $3.7 million, taking into consideration the amount the city pledged to pay for rehabilitation.

Development plans are expected to come under review by the Planning Commission in February or March.

Councilwoman Shirley S. Dettloff lauded the development, calling it an important component of the city’s downtown redevelopment efforts, which include the planned $5-million Pier Plaza project.

Mayor Ralph H. Bauer said the lower purchase price is part of the risk of redevelopment.

“Redevelopment is, in one sense, land speculation,” Bauer said. “The price of land went down, and we got hurt.”