Redevelopment Watch
Salinas Growth Spurt Bypasses Downtown, But Plans Persist
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 25 February 2010 - 10:40amSalinas is the blue-collar workhorse of Monterey County and the center of a wealthy agricultural region. But unlike its sister cities on the nearby Monterey Peninsula, Salinas has a downtown that is devoid of upscale restaurants and boutique hotels.
Although it is home to the National Steinbeck Center, a museum honoring the Nobel laureate and Salinas resident John Steinbeck, downtown Salinas has never taken off. Instead, the community has sprawled out on the fertile farmland that surrounds it.
CRA Wins Lawsuit, But Money Issues Still Unresolved
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 20 May 2009 - 3:00pmWith the State of California again facing financial calamity, the fight in Sacramento over tapping the revenues of local redevelopment agencies to fund schools is likely to intensify. Among the latest developments are a Sacramento County Superior Court ruling blocking implementation of a portion of a 2008 law requiring redevelopment agencies to transfer $350 million in tax increment revenue to schools, and a state controller’s office report that says more than one-quarter of redevelopment agencies face sanctions for being out of compliance for their pass-through payments to schools.
Economic Woes May Capsize Ambitious Plan For Queen Mary
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 30 January 2009 - 11:22amAfter 76 years afloat, the RMS Queen Mary surely still draws stares from the cargo ship crews that call at the Port of Long Beach, where the Queen remains one of Southern California’s more incongruous tourist attractions. Having sailed the North Atlantic under the Cunard flag, the ship has, since 1968, served simultaneously as a hotel, museum, event venue, and elegant icon for an otherwise working-class Southern California port city.
Ins And Outs Of Affordable Residential Development
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 5 January 2009 - 3:59pmThe development of affordable housing is inherently difficult. Projects typically require multiple funding sources, face neighborhood opposition, and are closely watched by both skeptics and state housing officials.
Yet California’s need for additional affordable housing is undeniable, despite the crash in real estate prices. So CP&DR shares this look at three different projects to offer lessons for anyone involved in providing housing affordable to people of modest means: a crime-ridden, market-rate condominium complex that the Rialto Redevelopment Agency rehabilitated as affordable apartments; a new, eye-catching project in an industrial part of San Jose that serves 218 households making less than half of median income; and a project in Contra Costa County that overcame what appeared to be imminent failure.
In Shadows Of Downtown, SD's Little Italy Thrives Again
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 29 October 2008 - 1:06pmLittle Italy is one of San Diego’s most popular neighborhoods today. In some ways a high-priced residential district with an Italian theme, Little Italy also provides an example of what a city can do to restore a down-on-its heels area. Twelve years ago, few had heard of this area north of downtown San Diego. But since the late 1990s, the area has grown and prospered.
Marina Approves Huge Subsidies to Restart Key Project
Submitted by Robin Andersen on 1 October 2008 - 2:03pmFaced with the potential demise of a highly anticipated 430-acre commercial and residential project, the City of Marina has added more than $80 million worth of subsidies and incentives to a deal with developers. In the recently approved deal, the city also reduced the developer’s workforce housing obligations and agreed to cover half of water connection fees.
Arts Gain A Foothold In Downtown Modesto
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 2 July 2008 - 11:49amIt has taken 25 years, but various government and private investments have turned downtown Modesto into a center for the arts, entertainment and dining. Still, there is a long way to go before downtown is completely "back" from the dead.
Baldwin Park Plans Downtown Overhaul, Meets Resistance
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 28 April 2008 - 10:27amThe City of Baldwin Park is pressing forward with an extremely ambitious redevelopment project that would convert the present downtown area of mostly single story commercial structures and modest houses into a very high-density, mixed-use district adjacent to a Metrolink station. However, the city’s extensive planning and a deal with a developer may be for naught if state voters approve eminent domain restrictions that will appear on the June ballot.
With Old Town In Fine Shape, Monrovia Looks To Transit Future
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 28 February 2008 - 12:51pmAlthough redevelopment often seems like a never-ending process, redevelopment of Old Town Monrovia is nearly complete. The city is now switching its focus to redevelopment of an 80-acre area about one mile south of Old Town and studying how to tie together the two areas.
Housing Injects Life In Downtown Hayward
Submitted by Paul Shigley on 19 November 2007 - 10:12pmThe downtown in the East Bay city of Hayward has many features that any redevelopment agency would envy — an Amtrak station, a Bay Area Rapid Transit station, historic buildings, and a modern grocery store with additional shops. Soon to come is a 12-screen movie theatre and more retail shops. But what may be helping the downtown area even more is years of work to create additional housing in and around downtown, within walking distance of BART and its connections to jobs in Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties.
