City Council OKs Pointe Anaheim
A showdown over a coveted piece of land in the Anaheim Resort District ended quietly Tuesday when the City Council voted unanimously to let a developer proceed with plans for Pointe Anaheim, a $500-million entertainment and hotel complex.
“This is a project with enormous potential to help our city,” Mayor Tom Daly said.
The agreement between the city and developer Pointe Anaheim LLC ends one of the fiercest turf wars in the city’s history. The L-shaped property is across Harbor Boulevard from Walt Disney Co.’s $1.4-billion California Adventure theme park, set to open in 2001.
Disney officials at first objected strongly to the project, parts of which will compete with some elements of Disney’s theme parks. They argued that, as proposed, Pointe Anaheim would have gaudy signs, inadequate parking and poorly designed traffic patterns that would conflict with Anaheim’s mission to create a visually appealing “garden district.”
But when Pointe Anaheim agreed to limit signs, increase parking and change traffic routes, Disney backed off.
Robert H. Shelton, project manager for Pointe Anaheim, said after Tuesday’s council vote, “It’s a win for the city.”
Council member Lucille Kring said: “This really does put the icing on the cake for the resort area.”
With council approval, Pointe Anaheim can begin to court tenants for the 29-acre complex. Plans call for 100 shops, restaurants and nightclubs, three theaters for live performances, and three hotels with a total of 1,050 rooms.
Hotels are vital to the project’s financial success, analysts say. Pointe Anaheim, a consortium of development companies, is expected to generate more than $400 million in tax revenue over the next 30 years, mainly from hotel bed taxes, said Keyser Marston, the city’s real estate economist.
The developer has agreed to have at least 51% of the hotel rooms built by the time Pointe Anaheim opens in 2001. The rest are to be completed withing 18 months.
The city’s Planning Commission gave unanimous approval for the project last month, though some officials expressed doubt whether Pointe Anaheim could acquire the nine parcels of land needed for the project. Indeed, the developer has yet to reach agreement to buy the final 10 acres. That parcel, site of the Anaheim Plaza Hotel across Harbor Boulevard from Disneyland, has been owned since the mid-1980s by Malaysian investors.
Shelton said the owners could become partners in Pointe Anaheim or could sell the property outright. “The value of the total integrated project is far greater than the sum of its parts,” he said.
His company already has an option to buy the largest piece of the project site, the Melodyland Christian Center.
Once the property is acquired and final details win Planning Commission approval, the developer can begin construction, starting with a five-level parking structure that will accommodate 5,200 vehicles.
The city is requiring Pointe Anaheim officials to submit an updated construction schedule every six months until the complex is completed.
