Details have finally been made fully public regarding the exact plan of The Waterfront project, the public-private venture which intends to vastly remake and revitalize the Redondo Beach harbor and pier area.
The future of a number of International Boardwalk tenants, as well as the fate of the Sportfishing Pier, have become concrete — in one case, literally — and a meeting of the Redondo Harbor Commission Monday night let the public in on a revamped vision for The Waterfront.
El Segundo-based developer CenterCal hopes to build 312,289 square feet of net new development, 523,939 square feet in total, over 36 acres land, complete with a market hall, a boutique hotel, office space, retail and a Seaside Lagoon that would open to the ocean.
According to CenterCal, this is a newer vision developed in accordance with recommendations from city staff and public input, one which allows for more open space, better sightlines and the feel of a vibrant harbor village.
The unveiling of the plan is the result of three years planning by CenterCal, and decades of political skirmishing which eventually laid the zoning groundwork for the Waterfront project.
“I fully expect to see [opponents] say ‘They really wanted to build a mall, and look what we made them do!” said CenterCal CEO Fred Bruning.
New homes, old places
The tug of war between the two sides fighting over the Waterfront’s future is not unlike that of a horse and a wary rider; the horse is fighting to charge ahead, while the rider pulls back on the reins, ever urging caution.
The existing waterfront, Bruning said last year, is “run down, and it’s time to fix it.” Now he and CenterCal chomping at the bit to proceed with the fix.
That fight between those in favor of a large scale new waterfront development and those opposed arrived at a pivital point with the passage of Measure G in 2010. The ballot measure provided the ultimate framework for redevelopment, allowing for no more than 400,000 square feet of net new development in the area west of Harbor Drive between Herondo Street and Torrance Boulevard. It also restricted the height of buildings to 45 feet in a project area that would ultimately exclude the Crowne Plaza triangle and all but two acres of land north of Portofino Way.
What’s left is what has often been called 36 acres of pristine waterfront — albeit much of which is in conditions that all involved would admit are in dire straits.
CenterCal’s plan is to raze much of the pier and project area to the ground, and construct what they hope will be a grand harbor village in its place.
As part of that plan, three mainstays of the Redondo Beach waterfront have reached agreements to secure their future as parts of CenterCal’s plan to redevelop the core of King Harbor.
According to Bruning, Captain Kidd’s, Quality Seafood and Naja’s Place have all found tentative terms with the developer to become part of The Waterfront project.
“We’ve come to agreement with [those three] in terms of their facilities and identified spaces for them in our new Market Hall,” Bruning said.
Bruning also emphasized the ongoing discussions with Fun Factory owner Steve Shoemaker, which have been routed through realtor Dean Thomas, the paramaters of which would move the iconic arcade to the new project area.
The idea behind the agreements, Bruning said, is for rents to remain affordable for what he calls “legacy tenants,” raising rates while keeping them as close as possible to their current rent.
Bruning said the justification for the hike is a matter of economics: A new, purpose-built facility in a destination location will make more money for everyone involved.
“When you think about Quality Seafood’s facility, it needs to be rebuilt,” Bruning said, referring to recent health department issues the restaurant had. “With our investment dollars, we can build out their space, and all they have to do is bring in their fixtures and fish and seafood.”
Quality Seafood, as with many of the tenants of the International Boardwalk, was built into a space that was originally conceived as a storage garage for the sport fishing boats in adjacent Basin 3.
“We’ll keep their base rent as close to within their current rent as possible with hopes that sales are going to increase significantly and make it a year-round venue rather than just one for summers or holidays,” Bruning said. “Percentage rent revenues will go up, our revenues will go up and tax revenues will go up.”
Bruning also took special care to mention that the Sportfishing Pier, home to both long-beloved restaurant Polly’s on the Pier and as the headquarters for Redondo Sportfishing, will remain despite early renderings pushing the project out.
But the pier cannot remain in its current state, CenterCal Vice President Jean Paul Wardy said in his address before the Harbor Commission. “The Sportfishing Pier is in terrible shape, and it needs to be torn down and rebuilt,” he said, noting that it would change from its current wooden structure to one built from concrete.
“As part of the program, we hope to bring Polly’s back,” Wardy said of the longtime waterfront cafe Polly’s on the Pier, though he admitted to the commission that, due to the very recent inclusion of the Sportfishing Pier in the project, talks with the restaurant’s ownership haven’t yet begun.
“One option is to have them relocate to our project, either to move into the Market Hall or one of the smaller buildings closer to us,” Bruning said. He also said that he’s been in talks with a company interested in providing water taxi services to cities along the Santa Monica Bay and around the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
“The pier would be a great landing spot for that, or maybe a tall ship,” Bruning said.
Addition and subtraction
The inclusion of the pier is among the many changes recommended by city staff following comments submitted by the public during the review period for the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Report. The full report will not be presented to the public or civic bodies for review until July 7, according to Community Development Director Aaron Jones.
But the new comments have already made their mark, resulting in a series of staff-recommended alternatives to the originally-submitted project.
Those recommendations factored greatly into the latest iteration of CenterCal’s Waterfront, resulting in an increase of net new development to 312,289 square feet from an earlier figure of 304,058 square feet. That increase is due to the salvation of Joe’s Crab Shack, on Portofino Way. The restaurant was originally considered for demolition as its land was studied for the inclusion of a new boat ramp within the harbor. That ramp has since been considered for Mole B, just off Moonstone Park.
Staff changes to CenterCal’s original proposal also reduced the length of the proposed parking structure at Harbor Drive and revised building layouts to increase ocean views and provide greater setbacks along the roads bordering the project area.
The structure’s footprint has been cut down to allow for a 60 foot-wide view corridor to the Pacific along Harbor Drive. To make up for the loss of parking spaces, the structure added a fifth parking level, topping out at the maximum 45 foot height allowable under Measure G. Though the square footage of the structure increased to 276,836 from 261,000 square feet, parking spaces dropped to 697 from 757.
“People talk about the views on Harbor Drive,” Bruning said, “but the killer views are going to be the new street.”
The proposed street, Waterfront Way, splits the northern end of project as an access corridor, though it’s also been envisioned as the project’s village main street.
Bruning also envisions the project as having no problem finding tenants for its storefronts, saying multiple potential occupants have shown interest in each of the project’s spaces. He also mentioned that CenterCal has chosen an operator for its theater, out of the more than 20 who have shown interest. However, he shied away from naming any of them, as the project’s fate is still in the air.
“There are still a few issues there, one of which is that we don’t want them getting calls saying ‘Don’t come to Redondo Beach.’”
That Bruning believes there’s a realistic probability those calls would be made proves that there’s still work to be done for the whole of Redondo Beach to buy into his vision.
Bridge drawing, opponent conclusions
The project’s most vehement detractors made their voices heard at Monday’s meeting, many who expressed disbelief in claims by CenterCal and city staff that the project fulfilled the tenets set forth by Measure G.
“Measure G prohibits blocking views of the ocean from all of Czuleger Park, it calls for enhancing and preserving views along Harbor Drive, and it calls for enhancing harbor uses,” said Eugene Solomon. “Parapets of 60 feet tall, and 600 foot long concrete walls do not help with views and a movie theater is not a harbor use…this project is designed for failure.”
Martin Holmes, a co-founder of Rescue Our Waterfront, held a similar view. “I think this business plan is risky, I think it’s bad for the community, and I think we can do better,” he said.
Holmes cited rent calculations, based on a $400 million cost estimate for the project, estimating that businesses will be required to pay rents hovering around $10 per square foot in order to deliver CenterCal’s return on investment. In his investigations, that’s a five-fold increase on what’s currently in the harbor.
“We have an opportunity here for the first time in 100 years to integrate the waterfront,” he said, noting the ongoing attempts at the sale of the nearby AES power plant property. He urged the commission to wait so the two projects could potentially be coupled. “Let’s come up with what we think is a longer-term solution as opposed to piecemeal development, which got us into this mess in the first place.”
Resident Melanie Cohen questioned CenterCal’s expertise in building such a project, noting that the developer’s history is filled with a litany of land-locked commercial-centric projects. “We can revitalize and make our city and pier beautiful without putting ourselves at risk with CenterCal,” she said. “They’ve got lots of pretty pictures, but they’re taking away views…let’s call it what it is: a mall.”
A sizable presence was also created by the members of UNITE HERE Local 11, a labor union of hotel and restaurant employees that packed a sixth of the council chambers with its membership.
“We’re here to express strong opposition and support the community members of Rescue Our Waterfront,” said union representative Alexandra Weyman. “We’re here to keep it accessible for all people, Redondo Beach residents and visitors alike…we oppose this project and the effect it will have on the community.”
Overall, staff and the commission took note of nearly 90 spoken and submitted comments at Monday’s meeting, ranging from complaints about views and building heights to concerns as to the viability of a movie theater on the project.
But among the biggest unresolved issues facing the Harbor Commission was that of the pedestrian drawbridge that would cross over Basin 3, connecting the space where R10 Public House is today to the area near Kincaid’s.
When commission chair Lenore Bloss asked how the bridge would work, Wardy said that the project’s 24 hour security would operate the drawbridge when alerted by boaters who were interested in taking their boats in and out of the basin using a “clicker system, like a garage door.”
The time to open the drawbridge would take about 23 minutes from close to fully open, Wardy said — and as commissioner Bryan Dalton noted, the bridge’s 22-foot height from the water at high tide would mean that almost any sailboat would need the bridge to open.
“We haven’t yet come up with draft recommended operating conditions,” said Community Development Director Aaron Jones. “We’ll assess whether or not there are times when it can just remain open.”
“It’s a process that needs to be looked at and thought out…I can see it becoming an issue,” Bloss concluded.
The meeting ultimately ended with the commission receiving and filing the report by staff and CenterCal, with plans to continue the meeting until June 27. The final EIR for the project will be released on July 7, and the final decision regarding the EIR, resolutions and conditional use permits will go before Harbor Commission on July 18.
The public process in Redondo has, thus far, been a unique but not unwelcome experience for CenterCal.
Bruning recounted a story of a forthcoming project in Utah, covering 650 acres of land and five million square feet of commercial space. “Throughout the entire process, there was not one negative public comment about the project,” he recalled. “In Redondo, we’ve heard ideas from hundreds and hundreds of people.
“If there’s one thing you can certainly say, by the time the project gets started, it will definitely have been well vetted.”
