Torrance OKs $35-Million Complex in Old Downtown

The Torrance City Council Tuesday unanimously approved a contract with Gascon Mar Ltd. to rebuild part of Torrance’s Old Downtown.

The plans from Gascon Mar and Sam Levy Investment Partnership call for 179 condominiums, 28,000 square feet of retail space and 529 parking spaces in surface and underground lots. The $35-million plan includes three sections, totaling 3.5 acres of the downtown area.

“We have the opportunity to eliminate a tremendous number of problems (in the downtown area),” Councilman Dan Walker said of the project.

But project opponent John Geyer, who owns MCB Paint & Decorating Center on Marcelina Avenue, said the project is too large and questioned the appropriateness of placing condominiums in a commercial area.

The City Council, also acting as the Torrance Redevelopment Agency, in a 6-0 vote, allocated 52,705 square feet of agency-owned and controlled property to the project. The agency also set aside $800,000 as an incentive for developing 33 units of affordable housing and approved a $320,000 waiver for water, sewer and recreation fees.

The project is expected to displace eight or nine businesses and the occupants of 20 to 25 units in the El Roitan residential hotel. The El Roitan and nearby parking lots at Cabrillo Avenue and Torrance Boulevard will be replaced with a retail plaza and new condominiums.

A condominium project will rise at Cravens and El Prado avenues, replacing retail buildings that house a bookstore, a coffee shop, a grocery store and offices. What is now the Newberry store on El Prado will be refurbished and subdivided into smaller stores.

City Planner Mike Bihn said the Redevelopment Agency will provide relocation assistance for residents and businesses displaced by the project.

Gascon Mar has agreed to pay for a Torrance police substation on Sartori Avenue as part of the project. Bihn said the substation will be staffed by two police officers between 3 p.m. and midnight, seven days a week.

Construction of the northern portion of the project, which includes the retail development, condominium units, a subterranean parking structure and the police substation, is scheduled to begin in April, 1992.

The development of the remaining 75-unit condominium complex is scheduled to begin in July, 1993, and is expected to be completed 1 1/2 years later.