Choosing developer for mall site only a first step.
Possibly in our lifetimes, depending on how young we are, the Carousel Mall site will be redeveloped. I think it’s best to remain skeptical until construction starts, even after a developer was chosen late Wednesday.
Given a choice between two developers, or of starting from scratch, the San Bernardino City Council picked the Renaissance Downtowns USA/ICO Real Estate Group partnership as more viable than the competing plan by SCG America.
But simply negotiating the agreement for the city-owned property is likely to take up to 18 months, the city’s planning director said. That’s fall 2022.
“A lot of lawyers are going to be involved in this,” City Manager Rob Field said before the vote. Consultants will need to be hired to represent the city because, Field said, “we’re not staffed to do this.”
The mounds of paperwork will include not only a contract for the sale of the property but also a disposition and development agreement. That will contain various enforcement tools and escape hatches to ensure the property is developed to the city’s liking and on a reasonable timeline.
At the urging of some council members, Field has six months to reach “deal points” with the developer for an eventual contract. That’s meant to give the city an early out if the developers prove to be all talk.
Councilman Fred Shorett had first suggested “120 days.” Councilwoman Kimberly Calvin countered with “six months.” Shorett: “120 days is six months.” Calvin: “120 days is four months, Fred.” Shorett: “I apologize.”
The first deal point ought to be which calendar to use.
OK, so by fall 2021 we may know if we’ll have a deal by fall 2022. And that’s only a contract, not submittal of design plans or construction. When might a project — some mix of housing, retail, offices and parks — be done?
“He told us 15 years,” Councilman Damon Alexander said of the developer, “and that’s ‘if everything is perfect.’ ”
“Too long!” replied Shorett, who like the rest of us isn’t getting any younger.
To be fair, it’ll probably be a lot shorter than 15 years. In their Jan. 27 pitch to the council and public, the develop
ers said they wanted not just the mall’s 43 acres but an additional 260 acres around downtown to try to remake the city. Accomplishing all of that might take 15 years. Well, like Rome, San Bernardino wasn’t built in a day.
City staffers, by the way, had recommended rejecting both proposals and master planning the property from City Hall, then piecemealing it out to perhaps half a dozen developers. The seeming shift in gears puzzled me, but then Field was hired only in September, inheriting a process that had started under his predecessor.
Also, officials may have been as unimpressed by the two proposals as I was. SCG America appeared to have dusted off renderings meant for a beachside city, and Renaissance has a lot of credentials but no actual plan. Unless floating the idea of building a Riverwalk in a city without a river counts.
“This is hundreds of millions of dollars,” Councilman Theodore Sanchez said. “How are they looking to finance this?”
Federal grants, he was told. Councilman Alexander’s image suddenly filled the Zoom feed, laughing.
“Their description of their financing is evolving,” Field said politely.
Another possibility for the city, Field said, is simply clearing the site of its dead mall, appraising the property and selling it.
Personally, I’d say that idea has merit. It might beat hiring a battery of consultants for 18 months of finessing. Granted, city officials would have less control over the ultimate result. Whether that’s a plus or a minus is open to interpretation.
The public comment portion of the meeting included, by one count, 57 speakers. Most addressed the Carousel Mall decision.
A majority backed Renaissance, often with the same talking points. Hmm. Nobody backed SCG America. A minority was in favor of starting over.
One positive thing about watching a council meeting via Zoom from the comfort of my home is that I could snicker or chortle as I pleased. Also, speakers tend to get to the point faster via recording than in person. But basically we’re listening to voicemails.
It’s like coming home to an answering machine with 57 messages and, with a sigh, hitting the play button, except without the ability to delete anyone, including the guy who called in twice.
Some sounded exactly like voicemails.
“This message is for the meeting of … Wednesday … March 3,” one person said, evidently checking the calendar.
“This message is for the mayor and council members,” another began, as if he were going to tell them their dry cleaning was ready.
One grumpy fellow complained about a council member named “Curtain.” In the background, the man’s wife said distinctly, “Calvin.” The man corrected himself: “Calvin.”
“I’ve been a member of San Bernardino for 42 years,” said a woman who is apparently a card-carrying resident. “This city has gone to hell in a handbasket.”
Troubled as Mayor John Valdivia may be, I had to feel a little bad about some of the nasty comments about him from the public. Some of the nicer ones were that he’s “morally revolting” and “a pimp.” But they played without interruption.
Only a couple of speakers reached the time limit and had their messages cut off in midsentence.
One was a woman who rambled on about sustainability and green infrastructure and ended prematurely as she was urging any Carousel Mall replacement to have crosswalk signals that are voice-activated.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, as I said, but Rome didn’t fret about pedestrian signals, either.
BRIEFLY
Location shooting took place this week at Pomona College in Claremont for the HBO series “Insecure,” as roving reader John Atwater tells me. The comedy-drama, which is filming its fifth and last season, was co-created by Larry Wilmore, who grew up in Pomona and performed the day after the 2016 election at Bridges Auditorium, paces away from the filming.