Valleywide : CRA Board Approves $3.3 Million in Loans

The Community Redevelopment Agency board approved $3.3 million in loans Thursday to rehabilitate temblor-damaged commercial properties in Reseda, Pacoima, Mission Hills and North Hollywood.

Pending City Council approval, the funds provided through the CRA’s commercial/industrial earthquake recovery loan program will help Reseda Marketplace Ltd. purchase an abandoned site at Vanowen Street and Darby Avenue for a 72,000-square-foot shopping center anchored by a Ralphs supermarket. The $10.4-million complex will break ground in the spring and is expected to create 150 jobs.

Although these aren’t the first loans provided through the program, they are certainly the biggest, CRA spokesman Marc Littman said.

“More than 300 jobs will be saved or created from these four loans alone,” he said. “This is the vanguard of a lot to come.”

The other loans are:

* $500,000 for the nonprofit Renegade Repertory Company to rehabilitate an earthquake-damaged building at 11136 Magnolia Blvd. in the NoHo Arts District. The Renegade Theater will ultimately provide 99-seat and 66-seat theaters.

* $462,000 for Pacoima’s Marcelo’s Food Services Corp. to develop a new building at the company’s 13752 Van Nuys Blvd. property. Two buildings housing Marcelo’s meat and poultry distribution were red-tagged after the earthquake. The new building should be completed this spring.

* $1 million for Mission Medical, LLC, to purchase and rehabilitate a medical office building at 10639 Sepulveda Blvd. in Mission Hills.

The no-interest loans are repayable over 25 years, with the first payment deferred for five years. The loans may be used to repair or purchase damaged buildings. The funding comes from federal Community Development Block Grant monies.

The council’s Housing and Community Redevelopment Committee is scheduled to consider the loan package within the month.