Several scenarios could result at the Civic Center area with the passage of the Malibu Bay Company Development Agreement. Included among them are the construction of a wastewater treatment facility or the addition of 155,000 square feet of development on the Chili Cook-Off site. A new urgent care facility is also promised. This is the second in a series of stories that will cover details of the Malibu Bay Company Development Agreement.
By Jonathan Friedman/Special to Malibu Times
The Civic Center area is the most complex and, to many, the most important part of the Malibu Bay Company (MBC) Development Agreement. The MBC has seven Civic Center properties, and one is the Chili Cook-Off site, which the city could purchase for $25 million. However, if Malibu is unable to come up with the money within three years after successful passage of Measure M, then the MBC could put an additional 155,000 square feet of development on the site. As for the remaining properties, three would be developed and three would remain as open space in either scenario.
The 20-acre Chili Cook-Off site is located at the south side of Civic Center Way between Webb Way and Cross Creek Road. To purchase the site, the city would try to get state and federal grants, although some of that money could require 10 percent to 20 percent in matching funds. Also, the city would have to use its own money to purchase the property’s developed portions-the Coldwell Banker building, the Animal Hospital, and the Malibu Lumber building. Malibu officials say those structures would be used as revenue streams to offset some of the costs.
The city says it has received encouraging responses from several state agencies on getting the grant money, because one of the plans for purchasing the Chili Cook-Off site is to place a wastewater treatment facility there. That would help to clean Malibu’s polluted waters, something the state agencies would like to see done. A full proposal for that facility has not been made. However, the basic idea of the facility is that it would collect wastewater from all the commercial properties in the area and MBC President Jerry Perenchio’s Malibu Colony property. The water would be treated and then reused in various ways.
The city would get the money to build the facility through a federal loan program. But those who use the facility would be required to pay off the loan, possibly through the formation of an assessment district.
There is disagreement on whether Malibu could get all the grant money it needs. Also, the city says the wastewater facility is not part of the agreement, but rather just one of the options if it is able to buy the Chili Cook-Off site. Another possibility is a park. Some people say, however, the state would only give the grant money if building the wastewater facility were certain.
If the city does not have the $25 million to purchase the property by the end of the 3-year period following a successful election, and there are no ongoing lawsuits or a dispute with the California Coastal Commission over the agreement, then the MBC could develop another 155,000 square feet on the property.
The future of the other properties is the same regardless of what happens with the Chili Cook-Off site. At the Ioki site, located on the northeast corner of Stuart Ranch Road and Civic Center Way, up to 85,000 square feet of development could be built.
On the Island property, located at the southwest corner of Civic Center Way and Webb Way, a one-story structure up to 12,088 square feet in size (although it could be another 7,000 square feet if the MBC is able to obtain a county-owned portion of the property) with an underground parking garage could be built.
The MBC has agreed to replace the Urgent Care Facility at the St. John’s Healthcare Center site, located at the southeast corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Webb Way, with a new one. The tenants of the current facility would be able to lease the new one at a fixed rate for at least six years. Additional development would also be constructed there.
The remaining three MBC properties in the Civic Center area would remain as open space, totaling 15.67 acres. The company has also agreed to conduct a $60,000 study of the feasibility of transforming the 7.1-acre Smith property, located along Civic Center Way next to Malibu Canyon Village, into a wetland.
Lastly, as part of the agreement, the MBC has agreed to donate $2.5 million to the city if it purchases the Chili Cook-Off site. Of that money, at least $1.5 million must go toward the construction of sports fields and community center facilities and up to $1 million could be used for capital facilities at the health center.