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Los Angeles

Redondo Beach deals major blow to waterfront development

The city’s mayor pronounced the $400 million project “dead”

Redondo Beach waterfront Park View and Mayor Bill Brand (Credit: Daily Breeze)
Redondo Beach waterfront Park View and Mayor Bill Brand (Credit: Daily Breeze)

After a five-year struggle, city officials in Redondo Beach have withdrawn their application to redevelop the city’s waterfront, effectively killing the controversial — and expensive — project.

The withdrawal follows a similar move from the city’s private partner on the project, CenterCal Properties. The El Segundo-based developer withdrew its portion of the joint application from the California Coastal Commission earlier this month after years of battling the city on the project, which opponents said was overly ambitious, the Daily Breeze reported.

Bill Brand, Redondo Beach’s mayor, said the “CenterCal waterfront project is dead,” but he didn’t eliminate the possibility of the project being resurrected with another developer. There is also a chance of combining the waterfront project with the AES power plant project, which is expected to transform into a public park with recreational facilities.

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Since inception, the project has been mired in setbacks as local residents, including Mayor Brand, thoroughly opposed the $400 million undertaking. The private-public partnership was hoping to build a 524,000-square-foot “harbor village” with retail, offices, a 700-seat movie theater, hotel and new parking on the Redondo Beach waterfront.

Last year, residents passed a city ballot aimed solely at halting the project. Measure C, which passed with 57 percent of the vote, was seen as a major blow for CenterCal’s plans.

Most recently, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge slowed the process even further by requesting the developers draft a revised environmental impact report.

CenterCal has filed three lawsuits against the city thus far, including one attempting to invalidate Measure C. They are all still pending. [DB] – Natalie Hoberman

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