Culver City Observer -

Market Hall Project

car show Funding Is In Doubt

The City Council’s Monday night meeting saw approval of a commitment letter that would move forward the development of a market hall at the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Centinela Avenue.

However, a decision on financial assistance by the City for three special events formerly funded by redevelopment funds was continued in order to obtain information from the event organizers.

Concerning the events (Culver City car show, IndieCade, and Taste of the Nation), the Council was asked to give direction to staff regarding the financing of these events. But at the outset, City Manager John Nachbar cautioned the Council:

“We are recommending, in the light of redevelopment having lost funding, that we not provide funding from the General Fund for these events.”

Nachbar added that while staff did not support direct funding of the events, he suggested that the Council support in-kind staff support services, as had been discussed for continuation of the summer concert series.

Dr. Jay Shery of the Culver City Exchange Club, which produces the car show every May, told the Council that “we are fully committed to seeing the show go through,” but it would have to be profitable. The Exchange Club is seeking sponsors.

Council members agreed that the car show and IndieCade are both events that bring commerce and attention to Culver City. Jeff Cooper noted that IndieCade, the gaming show held in the autumn, is an event that draws international attention. No one wants to see these events be discontinued in Culver City.

The food festival Taste of the Nation is also popular but is less associated directly with Culver City. The event producer, Save Our Strength (SOS), was not present at the meeting and Mayor Micheal O’ Leary expressed “disappointment” with SOS for not showing and for having announced its intention to withdraw from holding future events in Culver City if funding was not available.

Cooper expressed support for all three events and also said he would go along with an idea suggested by O’ Leary that the events could be funded by potential savings from changes that are to be made to the lighting for city parking structures. But Council members Andrew Weissman and Christopher Armenta did not think it would be feasible to fund the events with money “borrowed” against potential future savings.

Staff suggested that each event producer be asked to calculate how much might be saved from City fee waivers for the events. To give the producers time to make these calculations, the item was continued.

The commitment letter for sale and redevelopment of city-owned property at the northerly corners of Washington and Centinela was approved after a discussion of the question of “due diligence” in regard to the commitment of the developer.

On January 30, the City authorized a commitment letter to Lab Holding LLC to sell the property and develop the Market Hall. This agreement could not be consummated and the City began negotiations with another respondent to its Request for Proposals: a partnership between Red Barn Company and Regency Centers

The commitment letter with Red Barn/Regency was to have been discussed at the February 6 meeting but was postponed due to concerns that had been raised via public input about Red Barn’s involvement with a project in the northern California city of Hercules.

Robert Pine spoke at the February 13 meeting to voice his continued concerns over due diligence on the market hall project. According to his statements, the city of Hercules had to file for bankruptcy as a result of not being able to make redevelopment payments on the project that they had entered into with Red Barn.

Director of Community Development Sol Blumenfeld responded that Culver City had been approached by Red Barn for the market hall project but that Regency had always been involved as the main component of the project.

“We did look at this issue. We looked at some of the materials on the web site. We talked to the city administration of Hercules,” said Blumenfeld. He explained that Culver City felt Regency has “the financial capability” to produce the project.

The commitment letter provides a 60-day window for “due diligence,” after which, if the Council does not like the way things are proceeding, Council can withdraw support for the project. This would include Council’s approval of parking arrangements and oversight of tenants.

In other actions, the Council approved contract amendments between the City and the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) for firefighters, police officers, and the firefighter and police officer management groups, and approved additional service credit pursuant to Government Code Section 20903 for local miscellaneous members of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS).

The Council also approved a resolution introduced by Mayor O ‘Leary that would impose a duty on the mayor to receive the advice and consent of the City Council prior to making mayoral appointments pursuant to state law.

O’ Leary wanted this clarification so it would be understood that the Mayor could not make appointments without knowledge or approval by the entire Council.