SOUTH BAY & GATEWAY CITIES | Development News

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Times

Porsche to build driving center in Carson
By David Undercoffler
Los Angeles Times
5:07 PM PST, November 18, 2011

Porsche departed from the traditionally product-oriented public announcements at this year’s L.A. Auto Show with news that the company plans to build a Porsche Experience Center in the city of Carson.

The facility, only the second in the country and the fifth in the world, will sit on a 53-acre section of land just off the 405 Freeway near the interchange with the 110 Freeway. Much of the space is currently the Dominguez Hills Golf Course and at one point the area was a landfill.

The proposed facility would feature a test track, a driving skills course, driving simulators, an athletic center, a restaurant, and of course, a Porsche showroom.

Porsche hopes to break ground on the center in the summer of 2012.

“We’re very excited about the prospect of having such a world-class facility in the City of Carson,” said Mayor Jim Dear.

The mayor said the project will help put the city of about 92,000 people on the map, and should help turn Carson into a destination rather than just an exit off the 405 Freeway.

“People who have never been to Carson before in their life will come,” Dear said.

The facility is a completely private venture with no public financing or tax incentives, Dear said. He hopes the facility and its presence in Carson will bring about 300 jobs to the area.

Porsche says the handling course at the Porsche Experience Center would allow instructors to simulate rain, ice or snow conditions, somethings Southern California residents might not otherwise encounter. Also planned is an off-road course, the better for Porsche to promote the handling capabilities of its SUV and all-wheel drive vehicles.

Dear also said the facility would have a young-adult component, teaching new drivers skills that will allow them to be “the safest driver they can be.”

The automaker is expected to submit to Carson’s planning department a formal application for the Experience Center next week. Once that department approves the plan, it will go before a nine-member planning commission made up of local residents.

The Carson City Council will then have final approval.

During the review process, the effect the facility could have on local traffic, air quality, noise pollution and the environment will be studied.

Porsche has already signed a lease with Watson Land Co., which owns the land for the proposed Experience Center.

Because the site was at once a landfill, the Environmental Protection Agency and California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control will have oversight of the land’s redevelopment.

The summer 2012 timetable for breaking ground is assuming there are no delays in the environmental remediation action plan.

Read More: http://www.latimes.com/business/auto...,4555355.story

[2Easy]

^ Oh good, they fixed the article. In the original online article they called the mayor "Dear" first, but then "Dean" for the rest of the article.

Anyway as someone that lives in Carson I wonder how loud this will be? How does what will likely be a very loud racetrack next to what will be Carson's largest neighborhood development pass an environmental review and get built in city limits? Especially when few if any from Carson would ever use it. I don't see too many high end sports cars around here.

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Times

Read More: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...1379765.column

[pesto]

Originally Posted by 2Easy

^ Oh good, they fixed the article. In the original online article they called the mayor "Dear" first, but then "Dean" for the rest of the article.

Anyway as someone that lives in Carson I wonder how loud this will be? How does what will likely be a very loud racetrack next to what will be Carson's largest neighborhood development pass an environmental review and get built in city limits? Especially when few if any from Carson would ever use it. I don't see too many high end sports cars around here.

Good point about the noise. I wonder if this will ever really happen? Somewhere more remote seems to make more sense.

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Times

SpaceX completes historic docking with the space station
By W.J. Hennigan, Los Angeles Times
May 25, 2012, 11:31 a.m.

SpaceX's cargo-carrying Dragon spacecraft docked with the International Space Station in a historic first for spaceflight.

The unmanned, cone-shaped capsule became the first privately built and operated vehicle to ever dock to the orbiting outpost at 9:02 a.m. PDT.

Shortly after docking, a smiling Elon Musk, SpaceX's 40-year-old billionaire founder and chief executive, appeared in a press briefing at the company's sprawling rocket-making facility in Hawthorne.

Read More: http://www.latimes.com/business/mone...,6075308.story

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by Daily Breeze

Bergamont Station developrs to open art studio/marketplace at Port
By Art Marroquin Staff Writer
Posted: 12/01/2011 06:13:03 PM PST

By next year, the developers of Bergamont Station will open an art studio and marketplace inside a pair of vacant wood-frame warehouses at the Port of Los Angeles under a 25-year lease approved Thursday by the Board of Harbor Commissioners.

Read More: http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_19451047

http://bergamotstation.com/

[saiholmes]

[saiholmes]

REDONDO BEACH WATERFRONT REVITALIZATION DEVELOPER WORKSHOP
http://www.redondo.org/news/displayn...130&TargetID=1

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by Daily Beeze

Torrance's Del Amo Fashion Center to get revamping
By Nick Green, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/10/2012 05:46:23 PM PST

A new anchor tenant, parking structure and two-story mall wing are in store for Torrance's giant, but outdated Del Amo Fashion Center.

The plans were contained in a "minor modification permit" of a 15-year-old previously approved redevelopment scheme. Community Development Director Jeff Gibson signed off on the new permit Oct. 31.

His administrative approval means the updated plan requires no additional scrutiny by the Planning Commission or a public hearing before construction can begin. Gibson determined the plans for the mall were not significantly different from previous approved proposals and, therefore, no review was necessary.

No timetable for the mall revamping was given, but the existing entitlements for redevelopment of the property expire in May 2013.

Read More: http://www.dailybreeze.com/askus/ci_...del-amo-center

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by Major League Soccer

Read More: http://www.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter...la-v-hou/recap

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by Daily Breeze

Redondo Beach waterfront revitalization plans revealed
By Anna Mavromati, Correspondent
Posted: 02/23/2013 08:59:39 PM PST

When Fred Bruning looks at the Redondo Beach pier, he envisions elements of Pike's Place Market in Seattle, the stylized outdoor marketplace of Bridgeport Village in Portland, Ore., and the grand water features at Station Park in Farmington, Utah. All of these locations are inspiration for the impending redesign of the Redondo Beach waterfront.

Bruning is CEO of the El Segundo-based developer, CenterCal properties, which the city of Redondo Beach has chosen to revitalize the pier and harbor area. On Saturday, CenterCal revealed its plans for the waterfront to residents of the surrounding area, local business owners and community leaders. The meeting was designed as a means of acquiring feedback from the community.

Plans revealed at Saturday's meeting involve the installation of water features, a wider variety of dining experiences, a market hall and local retail shops. There also are plans for a small theater and a boutique hotel on the beach with access to the ocean.

The theater would be significantly different from movie theaters such as the AMC, Bruning said, offering reserved seating for only 600 to 800 compared with the 5,000 seats available at a typical multiplex. He said the theater would showcase a select number of films as well as other forms of art. Food service and a full bar would be offered as well.

As for the boutique hotel, Bruning said he envisions visitors and residents eating breakfast at its restaurant on a ground level that opens up directly to the beach. "We think that could be a magic moment for the site," he said.

Bruning said the waterfront designs will differ greatly from other South Bay shopping areas, such as the Del Amo and South Bay Galleria malls. The design, he said, would be "open, inviting and green," and efforts would be taken to keep the new layout from obstructing ocean views.

The plans also will create more bike and pedestrian access to the waterfront and will improve what Bruning referred to as "the spaghetti bowl" roundabout entrance to the parking structure from Torrance Boulevard, where he noted that many drivers become confused.

Read More: http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_2...plans-revealed