The Redondo Beach City Council has taken formal steps to revitalize the Artesia Boulevard corridor, asking that City Manager Joe Hoefgen consider forming an advisory committee to focus on economic renewal along the foundering 1.5 mile stretch.
“There’s been a lot of focusing on the Artesia Corridor lately,” said Councilman Steve Sammarco. “Now it’s time to act.”
Plans have been in the works for years; as Councilman Christian Horvath said, much work had been done in “Artesia Boulevard Vitalization Strategy” under supervision of previous City Manager Bill Workman. When Workman was fired in 2014, much of the work was shifted to the wayside while City Hall reorganized.
On Tuesday, staff focused on three points of the strategy: the renaming of Artesia to Redondo Beach Boulevard, which died before Council in November; studying the feasibility of creating a Business Improvement District; and the development of a sign plan and standards.
Sammarco, who represents much of the area that stretches along Artesia Boulevard, took an opportunity to call out the dormant Haggen grocery store at 2115 Artesia Blvd. The location was closed following a failed 2015 expansion that resulted in bankruptcy for the Haggen company.
Now the building is a fenced-off shell, and Sammarco is pointing fingers at the building’s landlord after communicating with representatives from a number of potential grocery tenants.
“[One representative] let me know that Safeway was, in fact, interested in the site, but the rent was too high…another organization’s issue is that the building is just in such bad shape,” Sammarco said. “Folks in North Redondo are eager for a grocery store, and I’m excited to get this off the ground.”
A hangup seems to be the formation of a BID; according to North Redondo Beach Business Association President John Gran, the likelihood of participation in a BID among Artesia businesses seems low, meaning that fee income would likely also be low.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s enough to do substantial things immediately on the boulevard,” Gran said. “That doesn’t mean we’re against it, but we’re looking at it and taking steps forward.”
Resident Eugene Solomon said that what matters is filling the empty storefronts on the Boulevard.
“If you want to revitalize Artesia, we have to fill those holes and spaces,” Solomon said, advocating for the City to consider working with professional real estate agents to keep up with property owners. “I want clarity, I want direction and I want it to be from people who know how to place businesses. Activity breeds activity…that will revitalize the corridor.”
The Council enthusiastically backed a staff-provided option to request that Hoefgen create an advisory committee that would develop an initial report on its actions by next April. A motion to create that request, and for staff to bring back a report for Council to recommend participants and guiding principles was passed unanimously.
