HUD Loan Is a Boon to Retail Plan
Plans to turn an idled Pacoima foundry into a major retail center employing more than 600 people got a boost this week from a $7.4-million government loan, officials said Friday.
Plumbing fixture manufacturer Price Pfister, which announced in 1996 that it would shift many of its operations to Mexico, is expected to close its doors at the Paxton Street plant in late June.
Rotkin Real Estate Group Inc. of Newport Beach, in partnership with the owner of the Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse chain, is negotiating with Black & Decker Corp., the parent company of Price Pfister, to purchase the 24-acre site, said developer Charles Rotkin.
In addition to a 165,000-square-foot Lowe’s store, negotiations are underway to build a 45,000-square-foot Gigante grocery store, which would cater to the area’s predominantly Latino community.
The center, which is expected to be completed by early 2005, also would include more than 34,000 square feet of retail stores, as well as three stand-alone businesses, including a restaurant and a bank, Rotkin said.
“This is taking what would have been a potential negative impact of a large corporation leaving the community and replacing it with much-needed services for the community,” said David Gershwin, spokesman for Los Angeles City Councilman Alex Padilla, whose district includes the foundry.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is lending the city of Los Angeles $7.4 million for the project against future community development block grants, said Larry Bush, a HUD spokesman. Such loans are often granted to entice businesses offering low- to moderate-income jobs, he said.
In addition, the city has received $1.4 million as part of HUD’s Brownfield Economic Development Initiative, which is used to rehabilitate environmentally damaged property, Bush said.
Price Pfister ceased manufacturing operations at the site late last year and has 35 employees remaining in its distribution center, said Black & Decker spokesman Ron Webb.
The property’s soil has been contaminated from decades of producing chrome and brass fixtures. Late this year, Black & Decker will begin cleaning up the site and demolishing the building, which is expected to take six to eight months, Rotkin said. After that, the property will be ready for sale.
Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Economic Development Corp. of Los Angeles County, said transforming a former manufacturing site into a retail center is a popular strategy, but it raises some concerns.
“You don’t have the site sitting vacant and the retailers will probably fill a huge need in the community,” he said. “But the flip side is, you once had a headquarters and manufacturing jobs there that would obviously pay a lot more than a traditional retail payroll.”
