CUOMO ANNOUNCES $42.2 MILLION IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FOR CALIFORNIA - INCLUDING $31 MILLION IN LA COUNTY
WASHINGTON - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today announced $42.2 million in economic development assistance to communities in California, including nearly $31 million for Huntington Park, Santa Fe Springs, Monterey Park and Long Beach in Los Angeles County.
The funds are expected to help create and retain nearly 5,500 jobs in the state and stimulate more than $200 million of additional public and private investment.
Cuomo announced the grants during a conference call today with members of the Los Angeles County Congressional delegation, including U.S. Representatives Matthew "Marty" Martinez, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Stephen Horn and Grace Napolitano. Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neill, Monterey Park Mayor Judy Chu and other elected officials also joined the call.
"We're investing in building a better future for businesses and families in California," Cuomo said. "By helping businesses to start up and grow, we'll create jobs, we'll create new opportunity for families, and we'll help revitalize communities."
A total of $35 million of the new assistance statewide is in the form of Economic Development Loan Guarantees under HUD's Section 108 program. The loan guarantees enable communities to borrow money at reduced interest rates to fund job creation, housing rehabilitation, the construction of public facilities and large-scale development projects. The Los Angeles County cities are receiving $26.5 million of the statewide total.
The remaining $7.2 million of the assistance is in the form of HUD Economic Development Initiative (EDI) grants, which go to localities to fund economic development activities that create jobs, primarily for people with low and moderate incomes. Working with Congress, Cuomo created the EDI grants in 1994, when he was an Assistant Secretary at HUD, to work in tandem with HUD's loan guarantees. The Los Angeles County cities will receive $4.4 million of the EDI funds, which are awarded competitively.
Here's where the HUD assistance to California will go (see attachment for details):
| CITY |
LOAN GUARANTEES |
EDI GRANTS |
TOTAL ASSISTANCE |
| Huntington Park |
$7 million |
$825,000 |
$7.8 million |
| Long Beach |
$3 million |
$1 million |
$4 million |
| Monterey Park |
$6.5 million |
$540,000 |
$7 million |
| Richmond |
$3.5 million |
$1 million |
$4.5 million |
| San Diego |
$2 million |
$1.5 million |
$3.5 million |
| Santa Fe Springs |
$10 million |
$2 million |
$12 million |
| Visalia |
$3 million |
$375,000 |
$3.4 million |
| TOTAL |
$35 million |
$7.2 million |
$42.2 million |
Rep. Martinez said: "This grant wil be a tremendous asset to the residents of Monterey Park. It will enable an environmentally sound project to move forwardthat will create close to 1,000 jobs for our community."
Rep. Roybal-Allard said: "This grant will allow Huntington Park to continue to be the hub of economic development of Southeast Los Angeles. I am very pleased that HUD recognizes the importance of investing and revitalizing in our communities."
Rep. Napolitano said: "These grants and loan guarantees will provide Santa Fe Springs with the ability to complete a project that will bring badly needed jobs to the area through the new Golden Springs Business Center. I'm also pleased that the transformation of this contaminated, underutilized brownfields property into an economically productive use will also benefit the neighboring community of Montebello."
Cuomo accompanied President Clinton last week on part of the President's New Markets Tour of economically distressed communities that highlighted the economic potential for investment in underserved markets. The President is proposing tax incentives and investment tools that will make it more attractive for corporate America to search for opportunities in such communities.
A HUD report issued last week titled New Markets: The Untapped Retail Buying Power In America's Inner Cities showed that America's inner city neighborhoods - with $331 billion in annual retail purchasing power - hold major economic potential for retail business growth.
The two major findings of the HUD report were:
- America's inner city neighborhoods possess enormous retail purchasing power - estimated at $331 billion last year, or one-third of the $1.1 trillion total for the central cities in which those neighborhoods are located. The report suggests that businesses not yet operating in inner cities should not ignore that large domestic market.
- Despite their huge buying power, many of America's inner city communities are "under-retailed," with sales that fall significantly short of residents' retail purchasing power. The report makes clear that not only is there a large inner city consumer market worth competing for, but there is also room for expansion of that market.
The report contained these statistics about the retail buying power and sales gap in California inner cities:
| CA Cities with New Market Eligible Areas |
"New Market Area" Estimated Retail Sales 1998 ($ millions) |
"New Market Area" Est. Purchasing Power-1998 ($ millions) |
Gap (Purchasing Power minus Sales) ($ millions) |
Gap as percentage of purchasing power |
| Davis |
$305.4 |
$472.5 |
$167.1 |
35.4% |
| Fairfield |
$41.3 |
$103.8 |
$62.5 |
60.2% |
| Lompoc |
$77.9 |
$153.7 |
$75.8 |
49.3% |
| Long Beach |
$1,355.6 |
$1,467.7 |
$112.1 |
7.6% |
| Paradise |
$256.6 |
$336 |
$79.4 |
23.6% |
| Stockton |
$989.8 |
$1,120 |
$130.2 |
11.6% |
| Tulare |
$168.1 |
$219 |
$50.9 |
23.3% |
| Watts (in LA) |
$779.2 |
$1,224.7 |
$445.5 |
36.4% |
DESCRIPTION OF $42.2 MILLION IN HUD ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE TO CALIFORNIA COMMUNITIES
HUNTINGTON PARK
The City of Huntington Park will receive an $825,000 Economic Development Initiative grant and a $7 million Section 108 economic development loan guarantee to assist in new retail development, including entertainment, shopping, restaurants and a multi-screen theater complex along Pacific Boulevard in the city's downtown redevelopment area. This new $50 million economic development project will create and maintain almost 450 jobs. In addition to the EDI grant and Section 108 Loan Guarantee, private sector funding will be $41 million, with additional resources from the City and the State of California.
LONG BEACH
A $1 million Economic Development Initiative grant and $3 million Section 108 loan guarantee will provide funds to fill a financing gap for the City of Long Beach's American Marketplace project. The American Marketplace will provide a 100,000 to 120,000 square- foot neighborhood retail shopping center for residents of the surrounding low-to-moderate income community. In addition to providing needed retail services, the project is expected to create 240 new jobs.
MONTEREY PARK
A $540,000 Economic Development Initiative grant and a $6.5 million Section 108 loan guarantee will assist the City of Monterey Park in the development of Monterey Park Towne Plaza, a major new 515,000 square-foot retail center that will create and retain 1,000 jobs in the community. The project will allow the city to restore an environmentally blighted area and transform it into a major center which will generate significant new tax revenue. Partners of the city in the $81.5 million project include Greenfield Development, Ezralow Retail Properties and state and federal water and environmental protection agencies. Monterey Park and the adjoining city of Montebello will also collaborate through a tax sharing program.
RICHMOND
Last week, HUD Secretary's Representative Art Agnos announced a $1 million Economic Development Initiative grant and a $3.5 million Section 108 loan guarantee for the city of Richmond for the construction of the Richmond Transit Village, a development that will bring housing, retail and transit to the Iron Triangle neighborhood. The project will create 218 affordable, for-sale housing units, approximately 15,000 square feet of retail space, a 30,000 square-foot Performing and Cultural Arts Facility and an Intermodal Transit Center with direct BART/Amtrak connections. The project will create an estimated 420 temporary and 110 permanent jobs. Partners in the project include the Richmond Redevelopment Agency, the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, the city's Employment and Training Department and state and local transit agencies.
SAN DIEGO
San Diego will receive a $1.5 million Economic Development Initiative grant and a $2 million Section 108 loan guarantee to assist in the construction of a Regional Transportation Center at the southeast corner of El Cajon Boulevard and the newly-developed I-15 corridor. The center will include a vehicle fueling station, facilities for the sale and repair of alternative and conventionally-fueled vehicles, and an educational center reaching approximately 30,000 junior and senior high school students and providing vocational training in the emerging field of alternative fuels for 1,500 technical school students. The center will provide increased economic opportunities for the low- and moderate-income residents of City Heights. In addition to the project's creation of 30 new jobs, Pearson Ford - City Heights' largest non-governmental employer - will retain 185 jobs within San Diego's Enterprise Community and will provide funding for the project. Key partners in the effort include: The Ford Motor Company, Pearson Ford, the City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
SANTA FE SPRINGS (through the County of Los Angeles)
The County of Los Angeles, on behalf of the City of Santa Fe Springs, will receive a $2 million Economic Development Initiative grant and a $10 million Section 108 loan guarantee to allow Santa Fe Springs to undertake environmental remediation on the third parcel of a "Brownfields" site in Santa Fe Springs. The first two redevelopment phases have already been successfully completed through a partnership among the current owner, Golden West Refining, Golden Springs Development Company, the County, the City, and the Southeast Area Social Services Funding Authority. It is projected that the new phase of the project will provide 3,000 new jobs, including more than 680 jobs for low- and moderate-income people.
VISALIA
The City of Visalia, in Tulare County, will receive a $375,000 Economic Development Initiative grant and a $3 million Section 108 loan guarantee to provide gap financing for a parking garage that will support a major redevelopment project in downtown Visalia. Public and private funds leveraged for the overall project total $31.2 million. The project includes hotel, restaurants, retail and office buildings, a transit center and theater and is expected to create 455 new jobs with at least 51 percent going to low and moderate income residents. Key partners in the effort include developers of the hotel, restaurant and retail sites, business owners and welfare-to-work providers.
Content Archived: January 20, 2009
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