County Looks to Sign New Lease on Life for Fisherman’s Wharf

Ambitious plans to revitalize Channel Islands Harbor near Oxnard will take a crucial step forward today if Ventura County supervisors, as expected, approve a final round of negotiations to reclaim possession of the Fisherman’s Wharf area.

After years of rising revenue, business at the 316-acre harbor flagged in the mid-1990s. Some businesses went bankrupt, and the county has had a difficult time attracting new tenants because the 40-year-old marina needs an overhaul, said Lyn Krieger, manager of the county-run harbor.

Fisherman’s Wharf, a five-acre complex of shops and restaurants, is a good starting point because of its high-profile location at Victoria Avenue and Channel Islands Boulevard, Krieger said.

The county has been negotiating to buy out long-term leases held by Westbrook Real Estate Partners for nearly two years, she said. But before a deal is struck, the county needs to look at Westbrook’s financial records, and the real estate group is requesting a confidentiality agreement before it will proceed, Krieger said.

Supervisors are expected to approve the secrecy agreement at their board meeting today.

County officials are looking to mix in more thoughtful development, conceding that the often empty mishmash of shops and eateries now surrounding the harbor evolved without a clear plan.

In 1998 the supervisors adopted a revitalization blueprint that, among other things, called for transforming Fisherman’s Wharf into a trendy, upscale shopping center modeled after the highly successful Promenade at Westlake in Thousand Oaks.

Krieger said the county would be looking for another “catalytic project” to spur transformation of the harbor’s west side. But much of the county’s far-reaching plans depend on the willingness of leaseholders to redevelop or to sell their rights, she said.

In that regard, Westbrook is a major player. The company owns about one-third of the property leases at the harbor, including the Casa Sirena hotel, Lobster Trap restaurant and two apartment buildings.

Some tenants at Fisherman’s Wharf allege that Westbrook has done little to help turn around business, allowing properties to fall into disrepair.

“These last six years that they’ve owned it, things have just slid downhill,” said JoAnna Steele, who has operated an art gallery and framing shop at Fisherman’s Wharf for 23 years. “It’s neglect of landscaping, of cleaning and of relationships with tenants.”

A spokesman for Westbrook did not return calls seeking comment.

Supervisor John Flynn, whose district includes the harbor, said the county intends to reclaim the leases and then ask developers to make proposals. The negotiations have taken a long time, Flynn said, because “it has to be done just right.”

“The deterioration has caused a lot of harm to the county. There is nothing vibrant going on down there,” he said. “The Lobster Trap used to gross $6 million a year. Now it’s about half of that. All of the businesses have been hurt by this gradual slide.”

Krieger said that despite higher vacancies, the county’s revenue from rents is growing at an estimated 7% a year. Still, the harbor would benefit from a better mix of commercial and recreational attractions and by adding more office space, she said.

That approach worked well at Shoreline Village in Long Beach, a shopping and restaurant mecca on the water near the Queen Mary and Long Beach Aquarium. Property manager Cecilia Charky said the center has 100% occupancy after falling to as low as 70% in the mid-1990s.

New owners brought in a manager who sliced rents, added office space now filled with attorneys, artists and graphic designers, and repainted the shops in bright colors, Charky said.

“The secret was to give tenants really low rent rates to come in,” she said. “You can’t drag someone into a dead zone and expect them to flourish. And rent rates are now at a competitive level because it is so successful.”