HUNTINGTON BEACH : Property Owners Back Coultrup Plan

Most property owners in a key block of the city’s redevelopment area told the City Council this week that they favor a developer’s proposal to rebuild their aging neighborhood of retail shops.

Because of the owners’ backing of Coultrup Development Co.’s two-block, $64-million proposal, city officials said they will likely recommend that the council also support it.

The residential, retail and office complex is proposed for the second phase of the Main-Pier Redevelopment Project Area, bound by Pacific Coast Highway, Walnut Avenue, and Main and 6th streets.

Representatives from Coultrup and the Sheldon L. Pollack Corp. each unveiled their development proposals Monday. The council scheduled a Feb. 19 meeting to decide whether to pursue one of the proposals or reject both.

Among 11 private owners in the area, eight have signed an agreement to form an association that would work with Coultrup to plan details of the development. None of the owners have agreed to participate in Pollack’s proposed project.

Property owners, many of whom also own shops in the area, have long resisted the city redevelopment agency’s effort to replace their buildings with a new, upscale complex. Their resistance has been a key factor in the agency’s decision to scrap previous proposals for their block.

But during Monday’s meeting, five property owners strongly endorsed Coultrup’s proposal, although it would demolish their buildings to make way for the new complex.

“I’ve been involved in redevelopment for 20-plus years, and Coultrup is the first reasonable development I’ve seen,” said Eldon Bagstad, who owns a building that houses his liquor store on Pacific Coast Highway at 5th Street.

Owners said they are convinced that the Seal Beach-based developer will give them a voice in how the area is developed. Coultrup’s preliminary plan includes a 140-unit condominium complex. Company officials said details of the retail and office portions will be decided with the help of the property owners association.

The Pollock proposal calls for more than 200 condominiums and a four-story retail/office complex that would resemble the newly opened Pierside Pavilion project on Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street.

Barbara A. Kaiser, the city’s deputy city administrator of economic development, called the Coultrup proposal “the best ecomomic offer we’ve seen to date” for the area.

Council members, however, remained skeptical.

“Before I can go along with this, we’ve got to have the finances in front of us,” Councilman Don MacAllister said. “On our last three projects we’ve talked about for this area. . . , they’ve ended up $15 million to $20 million upside down. To me, as it is now, this (proposal) doesn’t pencil out.”