Pierce Seeking Bids From Developers

Pierce College will soon begin accepting proposals from retail developers to build on the northwest corner of Winnetka Avenue and Victory Boulevard, where the campus Child Development Center has stood for 22 years, Pierce officials said Thursday.

The public bid request was made after McDonald’s Corp. submitted a preliminary offer to lease the site to the Los Angeles Community College District.

Nader Farnoush, vice president of administrative services at Pierce, would not release details of the McDonald’s offer, but said it was the first concrete idea for the site in recent memory.

He said the district had not sought potential developers but was instead approached by representatives of the fast-food chain.

“It has opened up doors at looking at development more seriously,” he said.

Because the land is owned by a public institution, the college must go through a bid period before it can consider the offer.

“We’ll have different businesses provide proposals, sit down and review them and decide which would be best for the campus,” Farnoush said.

When the bid period will begin is uncertain, but Farnoush said the district probably would take proposals for a month before making a decision.

If no proposal is acceptable to the district, the land will remain as it is, he said. Any proposal submitted will have to include a plan to fund moving the children’s center--which has operated on the corner since 1975--to the main campus.

Center officials said they would welcome the move, which the college has been considering for several years.

Director Kathleen Reiter, who has been with the center since its inception, said one advantage of the current location is a large playground, something that is not guaranteed on the main campus.

“If we don’t lose anything, it could be a good move,” Reiter said. “It’s a plus for the parents. It might cut down on their commute a bit. And the response time during an emergency, even from our own campus police, would be better, which I like a lot.”

Another parcel of college-owned land has long been a source of controversy in the community.

Pierce officials are considering development ideas for a portion of its farmland on De Soto Avenue and Victory Boulevard, while supporters of the agricultural department have waged a battle against any changes to that parcel.