Sale pending on former Carl’s Jr. lot, arson probe stalled

The vacant former location of the Carl’s Jr. restaurant in El Centro is in the process of being sold to a retail developer from the Los Angeles area, the broker handling the sale reported Tuesday.

The structure at 2215 S. Fourth St. adjacent to Interstate 8 was destroyed by fire in May and razed in September.

“The seller accepted an offer of $1.6 mil with a short-term escrow,” broker Pat Seay stated in an email. “The buyer is a retail developer from the Los Angeles area and expects to bring in national tenants to this freeway location.”

The asking price for the 51,000-square-foot lot put up for sale in October was $1.7 million, Seay added. There were six offers. The seller is CLK, Inc., of Thousand Palms, a Carl Jr. franchisee.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the fire thought to be of suspicious origin has stalled, said interim city Fire Chief Cedric Ceseña.

“We have suspicious activity. We have a suspect but cannot identify them,” he said, explaining city police and fire have been reviewing security-camera video.

Authorities are considering their next steps in the investigation, he added.

With its position next to the I-8 Fourth Street interchange, the lot is in area with among the highest traffic volumes in the city. It has numerous restaurants and lodgings and is seeing further development with the new county courthouse being built just blocks away near South Sixth Street and Wake Avenue. A new California Highway Patrol office is also planned for several blocks south on Fourth St. near Danenberg Drive.