Story Created:
Jan 21, 2010 at 11:43 AM PST
Story Updated:
Jan 21, 2010 at 2:31 PM PST
SOUTH GATE — A site plan to build 517,000 square feet of commercial retail businesses on the 30.5-acre El Portal shopping center at 4635 Firestone Blvd. has been extended to Oct. 25.
Extension of the plan for the northwest corner of Firestone Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue, set to expire Jan. 28, was requested by the Target Corporation, which is seeking to take over the project from the cash-strapped previous developer, South Gate Gateway, according to Steven Lefever, the city’s director of community development.
The City Council, sitting as the Community Development Commission, approved the extension Jan. 12 with Vice Mayor Greg Martinez and Councilman Bill De Witt absent. The vacant site is owned by the city.
In a written report to the City Council, Lefever noted that the project was first approved Feb. 12, 2008, and included a large Target store, a movie theater and other retail and commercial uses. It has been extended several times because the developer was unable to obtain financing.
Under the extension agreement, Target, as the developer, must reimburse the city for funds it expanded under the agreement originally made April 24, 2007, when the project was first proposed and must maintain the property, keeping it free of weeds and debris.
In a similar issue, the council extended to Dec. 30, 2010, the time limit for GBP Southern Avenue of El Segundo complete infrastructure improvements at a planned storage facility at 2405 Southern Ave. and homes on nearby Calden Street.
In a written report to the council, Public Works Director Robert Dickey said the deadline in the original agreement of April 24, 2007, was extended several times to April 1, 2008 and then to Dec. 30, 2009.
Dickey said the public works upgrades were completed at the Southern Avenue site but the developer needs more time for the improvements prior to building homes on Calden.
The council also agreed to reduce the $600,000 performance bond to $423,173 in light of the developer completing some of the work.
That work includes replacing damaged curbs, gutters and sidewalks and installing wheelchair ramps at intersections where needed, the placement of three decorative cast iron tree wells, landscaping and planting trees at 50-foot intervals along the street, Dickey said.
In other action Jan. 12 the council, after a public hearing, postponed to Jan. 26 a decision on the request of T-Mobile to install a 12-panel wireless communications tower shaped like a pine tree at 9812 Long Beach Blvd. Some nearby residents voiced concerns, a city representative said.
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