City Picks Businesses, Apartments for Site

At one time, it was a possible spot for a museum to honor Fullerton guitar-maker Leo Fender. A local church also wanted the city-owned downtown property to expand its outreach programs for area youth with a small theater and community meeting room.

But the 15,000-square-foot parcel southwest of Wilshire and Pomona avenues will instead be used for new businesses and apartments. The City Council voted last week to approve plans for a five-story building with 183 apartments and 3,500 square feet of commercial space on the current site of a public parking lot.

The building would include a basement-level garage with 168 spaces--80 for employees in the building, city planner Joel Rosen said. The property is in the downtown district, a block from the Fullerton Transportation Center, where a CenterLine light-rail project is proposed. Metrolink and Amtrak already stop there.

City officials said the project, to be developed by the private firm of MGI Fullerton, will enhance the downtown area and draw residents who may want a more urban lifestyle near restaurants and mass transportation.

Rosen said the city is still negotiating with area property owners to see if they can provide some public parking to help make up for the loss of spaces when the project is built.