OXNARD : City to File Tax Lien on Failed Center

The city of Oxnard will file a $4.4-million tax lien on the failed Oxnard Town Center to protect bondholders who helped fund $14.7 million in improvements.

A portion of the proceeds from a foreclosure sale of the Town Center planned for June would pay off the delinquent bonds.

The decision to file a lien, made Tuesday by the Oxnard City Council, comes nearly six years after the city agreed to provide municipal services to the center. Proposed by Oxnard Town Center Partners of Solvang, the $500-million center was supposed to include a mix of office high-rises, retail shops and a cultural arts center.

With the $14.7 million in bond revenues, the city built streets and storm drains, provided water and electrical service, installed street lighting and planted landscaping.

But the project foundered during the county’s economic downturn, after just two of the center’s planned buildings had been constructed on the property north of the Ventura Freeway near the Santa Clara River.

The developers backed away from the project and stopped paying the bondholders two years ago.

City Atty. Gary Gillig said Tuesday that the city of Oxnard is not at risk by the default on the bonds, which were issued by a council-directed community facilities district with the property offered as collateral.

Gillig said an “impenetrable wall” exists between the district and the city, making the city’s general fund safe from claims by holders of the delinquent bonds.