King Harbor ‘legacy’ tenants to be preserved in new waterfront development
The Waterfront project’s Public Market, inspired by San Francisco’s Ferry Building, is envisioned to house “legacy tenants” such as Quality Seafood and Captain Kidd’s Fish Market, as well as smaller retailers and grocers. Image courtesy CenterCal
The redevelopment of Redondo Beach’s waterfront district is a very personal project to CenterCal’s staff, said Mickey Marraffino, the El Segundo-based developer’s vice president of marketing.
“About 80 percent of the people working in our office live in the South Bay. So it’s a professional project, but it’s also a personal one for the whole team. Every day we’re honored to be in a position to help shape the future,” Marraffino told members of the Redondo Beach Round Table during the business group’s quarterly luncheon last Thursday.
CenterCal’s presentation was notable for the meeting’s location, at the R10 Social House. The restaurant is owned by George Loren, a partner in Captain Kidd’s Fish Market. The two businesses sit in the heart of the proposed development area. They are among the “legacy tenants” that CenterCal President Jean Paul Wardy told the group he plans to move to the development’s Public Market. Other legacy tenants Wardy mentioned included Old Tony’s on the Pier and Quality Seafood.
CenterCal President Jean Paul Wardy addresses the Redondo Beach Round Table on September 24 at the R 10 Social House restaurant. Photo
The Waterfront Redondo Beach, as the project is named, includes 289,000 square feet of retail, hotel and business space, or approximately 73 percent of what’s allowed under Measure G, the 2010 ballot measure that rezoned the harbor. Measure G allows for 400,000 square feet of development in the 35 acre waterfront.
The heart of the waterfront, Wardy said, will be a public market, similar to San Francisco’s Ferry Building and Seattle’s Pike Place Market. It will include produce stands, butchers, a cheese shop and small retailers as well as “legacy” tenants.
The public market will be located near the north end of the project, where Captain Kidd’s, Samba and R10 Social House are now located.
A drawbridge will connect the Public Market to a boutique, four-star hotel, across the channel that leads to the slips in front of Basin 3, where the International Boardwalk currently stands.
CenterCal has retained Bob Glazier, whom Wardy called “probably the world’s most renowned coastal architect,” to design the hotel.
The recently redesigned Harbor Drive bike path will be extended from where it presently ends, at the north end of International Boardwalk, to the beach bike path below the Esplanade.
Automobile traffic flow will be improved, Wardy said, with the extension of Harbor Drive through to the foot of Torrance Boulevard. The new street is to be called Pacific Avenue.
A luxury movie theater that serves meals and alcohol and more than 50,000 square feet of office space will replace the Pier Plaza Business Park, at the foot of Torrance Boulevard.
New dining and retail businesses will be scattered throughout the project.
The Seaside Lagoon will be open to the main harbor channel, providing paddleboarders and kayakers access to the ocean. Wardy said Seaside Lagoon will be similar to Mother’s Beach in Dana Point.
The Coastal Commission is requiring a public launch ramp for boats. Wardy said the location hasn’t been determined, but one possibility is just west of Seaside Lagoon, where Joe’s Crab Shack is presently located.
He estimated the project will generate $3 million in annual tax revenue for the city, as well as 2,500 new jobs,though some of those will be construction-related, ending at the project’s completion.
“We think the property is properly sized, with enough mass for the quality of retailers without being overbuilt,” Wardy said. He cited a city-commissioned study by AECOM that concluded there is a demand for additional retail and entertainment businesses on the waterfront.
“We have the opportunity to create something new and special for a community that deserves something new and beautiful,” Wardy said.
“I can see why the mayor and council selected CenterCal to lead in this waterfront revisioning,” King Harbor Marina lessee Maryann Guthrie said in support of the project, following Wardy’s presentation.
Ward said he hopes the groundbreaking will take place in January 2017 and expects the project will take 27 months to complete.
The project’s Draft Environmental Impact Report will be released to the public for review this month or next, according to Redondo Beach Director of Civic Development Aaron Jones. ER