OXNARD : City Sues Developers of Town Center
The city of Oxnard has filed a lawsuit against developers of the Oxnard Town Center, seeking to collect $3.1 million in unpaid taxes levied for improvements to the 265-acre parcel east of the Ventura Freeway.
City Atty. Gary Gillig said developers of the foundering office and commercial project haven’t paid their debt on a $14.8-million bond measure since December, 1991.
The city has no liability, Gillig said, but has initiated foreclosure proceedings in an effort to collect for the private bondholders.
“The city is not out a dime,” Gillig said. “We’re only acting as the account administrator.”
The $500-million Town Center project called for construction of several high-rise and mid-size office buildings, a shopping mall, restaurants and a cultural arts center on the property east of the Ventura Freeway near the Santa Clara River. The project is only partly completed.
In 1988, Oxnard officials agreed to issue $14.8 million in bonds and used the money to build roads and install utilities. Three years later, the city levied a special tax on the owners of the Town Center property to pay for the bonds.
The lawsuit, filed this week in Ventura County Superior Court, names the Oxnard Town Center and 37 other companies, individuals and banks.
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