Loan Guarantee for Theater Hits Snag

The city will resubmit an application to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to guarantee loans for its downtown theater project.

HUD, which is reviewing the city’s project in anticipation of guaranteeing $10 million in loans, notified the city last week about eight points of concern.

The concerns included whether the city provided a draft of the plan to the public, held enough public meetings about the project and included public comments about the project with the application.

“We’re being held to very strict language standards or requirements that we didn’t know existed,” said Norma Owens, the city’s grants manager. “This is the first time that I’ve ever seen a city that had to adhere so specifically to the regulations.”

The city will try to correct each of the points raised by HUD and will resubmit its application in a month or so, said Curtis Cannon, Oxnard’s community development director. The HUD letter concerns only the agency’s willingness to back the project, not whether it should be built, Cannon said.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with the viability of the project,” he said.

The $14-million complex is scheduled to open next fall, although additional delays could push back the opening, Cannon said.

The 55,000-square-foot theater will have up to 16 screens and the complex will include 8,500 square feet of retail shops.