But with a down economy, flat real estate market, and cities suffering from last month’s state raid of local redevelopment funds, some plans for transit-oriented developments could end up being scaled back.
But other developments in the area are also at risk, said Fran Delach, Azusa’s city manager. A nearby retail project meant to accompany the housing project was relying on purchasing city-owned land at a low price to go forward, Delach said.
“It really takes away from our ability to use redevelopment as an economic catalyst for our city,” Delach said.
The city saved $3 million but it’s now effectively barred from future redevelopment deals.
Because the project already has been cleared and the developers have title to the land, it does not require further assistance from Monrovia’s redevelopment agency, said City Manager Scott Ochoa.
While project developers have been cleared to eventually add up to 3,500 residential units, they may well chose to scale back if the units won’t sell, he said.
Arcadia’s challenge will be land acquisition, Penman added.
Cities further east will have longer to develop their plans since the next extension of Gold Line won’t be completed until 2017, and does not yet have a committed source of funds to ensure it will even get done by then.
But even there, city officials had hoped to get projects off the ground early. Currently, the city’s main planned project on the Gold Line, a mixed retail and residential proposal at the intersection of Ada and Glendora avenues, is not going forward.
“I think it will be stalled for an indefinite period of time,” Jeffers said.