Curtain Falls on Theater Project

Negotiations to build a long-awaited, multimillion-dollar movie theater as the crown jewel of a revitalization project in downtown Oxnard have again halted--but the project is not dead, according to city officials.

The city cut off talks with Burbank developer Victor Georgino after neither side would agree to pick up an additional $1.8 million the project would cost because the builder would be required to pay prevailing wages. Those wages are set by the federal or state governments and are higher than market labor costs.

Though the negotiations with Georgino--whose Oxnard Retail and Entertainment Center includes partner David Augustine--have broken down, city officials say they will look for other ways to move forward with the theater and revitalization effort.

“It’s not dead in the city’s eyes,” City Manager Ed Sotelo said. “One element is gone, the developer, [but] there’s a distinct possibility we could work with a theater company who could say ‘we’ll build it.’ ”

Georgino, whose work includes successful development in downtown Ventura, said it was financially impossible for him to pick up the tab.

“It’s a great city. My partner and I have spent money. We still want to do the deal,” Georgino said. “But they have chosen another avenue.”

Oxnard, the only major city in the county without a first-run theater, is in its seventh year attempting to construct one in downtown--an area lacking night life.

This setback marks the third time since 1995 that negotiations have broken down between the city and developers.

The negotiations with Georgino trace back almost two years.

The proposed project on A Street would have cost between $13 million and $14 million. It was to include a multiplex theater on 55,000 square feet with an additional 85,000 square feet of retail space.

From the beginning, the city had intended to finance most of the project with a $10-million loan from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, said Curtis Cannon, Oxnard’s redevelopment director. A condition of the loan would have required the city’s contractor to pay federally set prevailing wages.

A state law that goes into effect next year also requires that redevelopment projects that receive government assistance pay state prevailing wages, according to city officials.

About six months ago, it became clear that there probably would be no way around prevailing wage requirements. Georgino asked the city to absorb the additional costs.

In a closed meeting last month, the City Council decided against covering the added expense.

Both sides stuck to their positions--prompting a recent telephone call from Cannon to Georgino, saying the city was no longer interested.

“I don’t think [finishing the deal with Georgino] would be a fiscally sound thing to do,” said Jeanette Villanueva-Walker, Oxnard’s public information officer. “We needed to explore some of the other very promising opportunities that may give the city a project that has more financial strength.”

Villanueva-Walker said Oxnard was already willing to commit significant resources.

Though the city has not secured a HUD loan, Villanueva-Walker said it still intends to search for that funding.