Website Demonstrates New Portal Approach to Market Brownfield Sites

Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles

A new website offers potential developers and investors unprecedented information about the Wilmington Industrial Park, located within a redevelopment project in the Harbor area of the City of Los Angeles.

Managed by the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA), the site was conceived by the City's Brownfields Team as a pilot project to demonstrate how multiple agencies could collaborate to offer a single repository for information, reports, images, maps, analysis, and information about local businesses and the community.

The website can be found at: http://www.wilmingtonindustrialpark.org/

In addition to over 500 pages, documents and photos, the website also includes:

An interactive map feature providing detailed data and analysis on any parcel or block, and 'map gallery' featuring the 20 most popular maps.

A photo gallery, actual photographs and property ownership charts from key blocks in the project area. (Sample block data.)

Profiles and links to businesses operating in the area.

A real estate bulletin board where brokers can list projects for sale or lease.

"We are delighted that the Harbor area has this new resource to stimulate investment and development in the community," said Janice Hahn, Councilwoman for Council District 15, which includes the industrial park.

"The website is designed to market the project area and provide "one stop" access to key property profile information. The business community has consistently said they needed accurate and accessible information to make informed decisions about investing in the industrial park," said CRA/LA Board Commissioner, John Schafer. "Attracting new industrial development will also bring good paying jobs to the Wilmington community," he added.

The website was developed in partnership with the Mayor's Office of Economic Development, the City of Los Angeles Brownfields Program, the Environmental Affairs Department, the Office of Councilwoman Janice Hahn, and the Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Bureau of Engineering/GIS Planning; the Community Development Department, and a variety of multi-disciplinary private firms including Economic & Planning Systems, Urban Insight, and SCS Engineers.

The project was jointly funded by a grant from the Economic Development Administration, the CRA/LA and the City of Los Angeles Brownfields Program using funds from the City Community Development Block Grant. Brownfields are abandoned, idled and/or underutilized sites where redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. The goal of Los Angeles' Brownfields Program is to develop effective strategies to enable redevelopment of brownfields throughout Los Angeles but particularly in disadvantaged communities and to incorporate these strategies into the City's normal redevelopment process.

This "portal" approach is viewed as a potential pilot for other industrial areas in the City of Los Angeles, said Steve Andrews, Chief of Strategic Planning for the CRA/LA.

The Wilmington Industrial Park (WIP) is a 232-acre industrial center located in the City of Los Angeles. The WIP is strategically located within the community of Wilmington in the Harbor Cities Area immediately north of the Port of Los Angeles and west of Long Beach. Current efforts are underway to redevelop the WIP into a high quality industrial park contributing to the economic vitality of the harbor area and the greater Los Angeles region.

Some of the unique, business opportunities at the WIP include: manufacturing, assembly or food processing uses; light industrial or labor intensive Port-related uses that will provide quality jobs for Wilmington residents.

A new Economic Adjustment Strategy commissioned by the CRA/LA specifies a strategic approach to the redevelopment of brownfields in the Wilmington community. The report provides a comprehensive, market-based approach to intensifying manufacturing development in an area hampered by soils contamination, potential liquefaction, and complex ownership patterns. The study outlines a public/private funding strategy and a set of policy recommendations to attract investment to this strategically positioned property, based on a carefully developed phasing strategy. The full text of this report is also provided on the website.

About CRA/LA: CRA/LA, is a public agency regulated by the State of California and operating within the City of Los Angeles. It attracts private investment into economically depressed communities to eliminate blight, revitalize older neighborhoods, build housing for all income levels and create and retain employment opportunities. CRA/LA manages 32 redevelopment projects areas in seven regions: East Valley, West Valley, Hollywood & Central, Downtown, Eastside, South Los Angeles, and the Harbor.

Contact:

Susan Totaro, Project Manager

Los Angeles Harbor Industrial Center Redevelopment Project

Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency

(213) 977-1987 or (213) 241-0326 Email: [email protected]

For more information contact:

Susan Totaro
Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles
354 S. Spring Street, Suite 800
Los Angeles
CA 90013
USA

Phone: (213) 977-1987
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://cra.lacity.org/

Posted November 15, 2004