Norwalk : City Will Buy 10 Acres to Boost Stalled Development
Exasperated by delays in a much-vaunted $75-million shopping center development near City Hall, Norwalk officials will buy a portion of the site in an attempt to get the project off the ground.
The city will lend its Redevelopment Agency about $3.8 million over the next three years to buy 10 acres owned by the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District. The land is part of the Metro Center/Sycamore Village development, a 22-acre project that was to include restaurants, office buildings, a commercial center, condominiums and a hotel.
However, the developers of the project, London Pacific Investors, built only the hotel and a portion of the condominiums before running into financial difficulties. Unable to pay the school district for the rest of the land, they delayed the project.
In July, the school district declared London Pacific in default of its agreement and city officials began negotiations to buy the land.
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