The lease for the Redondo Fun Factory is on the market, and according to the agent managing discussions, Redondo Waterfront developer CenterCal Properties has made an offer he’s confident will lead to a deal. A deal between Fun Factory owner Steve Shoemaker and CenterCal would settle the largest piece in the puzzle for the Redondo Pier and the developer’s plans for waterfront reinvigoration.
Dean Thomas, owner of eReal Estate Corp, is the real estate agent brokering discussions between Fun Factory owner Steve Shoemaker and CenterCal. Thomas put the Fun Factory’s lease on the market on March 4 for $29 million.
Shoemaker’s struggles with the City of Redondo Beach reignited in recent months, when he pushed back against the city’s rent increase proposals.
“I absolutely love Redondo, but I don’t like the way they do business,” Shoemaker said. The Fun Factory owner, who has operated businesses on the pier since 1972, is one of the area’s last remaining long-term leaseholders. His lease for the 30,000 square foot Fun Factory space, which includes his tenants at the adjoining Fun Fish Market, expires in 2027.
The Fun Factory sits at the base of an aging parking structure. As part of the proposed Waterfront development, the structure would be brought to current technological and safety standards. Should Shoemaker and the Fun Factory remain in place for the duration of the lease, the project would, at best, take more than a decade to complete.
“He’s pretty much at Ground Zero, and we cannot tear down the parking structure and build a new one as long as Steve is there,” said Redondo Mayor Steve Aspel. “Hopefully they can strike a deal where he can move. We welcome him in the harbor, and he can always move to a new building if he and CenterCal work it out.”
Shoemaker and CenterCal CEO Fred Bruning had discussions last year regarding the Fun Factory’s lease. But those discussions ended when Shoemaker asked for $29 million for his leasehold.
“So I figured if CenterCal won’t talk to me and the City won’t talk to me, they’ll talk to my agent,” Shoemaker said. “Dean Thomas is a good salesman with a good reputation, and he and I have done a considerable amount of business over the years.”
Thomas has known Shoemaker for decades, and believes that the Fun Factory owner, ultimately, wants what’s best for the area. “He’s not looking to be divisive, or to stop anything…he’s been a part of the pier since the ‘70s and he still wants to see Redondo Beach flourish,” Thomas said.
Negotiations, Thomas said, are ongoing, and he declined to discuss details for fear of damaging the deal. “But what is 100 percent certain is the proposal was fair enough for Steve to give it serious consideration,” he said.
CenterCal’s offer includes relocating the Fun Factory in a 6,000 square-foot space in the proposed Marketplace. A carousel, which Shoemaker has long wanted to install on the pier, is also included in CenterCal’s offer.
“The goal of CenterCal is to put the existing businesses in, so that the traditions of Redondo stay with the project,” Thomas said.
Bruning confirmed that CenterCal has made an offer for the Fun Factory lease, but declined to comment further.
Those other existing businesses, Aspel said, are major components in the city’s negotiations. As far as he is concerned, the city’s mission is to ensure that every leaseholder in the area will not be put out in the cold by the project, which Aspel cautions is still in negotiation.
“The numbers have to work out favorably for the city, and if they didn’t pencil out for the city, this wouldn’t happen anyway,” he said. “There are so many loose ends to tie up, and we want to make sure we take care of the current tenants; it’s not just about Shoemaker.”
“It would be nice to come up with a fair and equitable exit strategy for him,” Aspel said.
