| HUD No. 00-216 | |
| Further Information: | For Release |
| In the Washington, DC area: 202/708-0685 | Thursday |
| Or contact your local HUD office | August 10, 2000 |
$21 MILLION HUD AWARD BRINGS JOBS TO LA COUNTY
WASHINGTON - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today announced $21 million in funding to Los Angeles County for economic development projects in the City of Commerce and West Hollywood, a move that will create almost 1,700 jobs and stimulate more than $175 million in additional private and public investments.
About $11 million goes to the City of Commerce, which will construct the Commerce Urban Entertainment Center along the Interstate 5/Santa Ana Freeway corridor. The Center will include a 16-screen theater, 280,000 square feet of retail space and 75,000 square feet for restaurants and food courts. When opened, it will annually generate an estimated $1.4 million in new tax revenues and create about 930 new jobs.
West Hollywood will receive a $10 million award to redevelop 7.75 acres of an area currently home to a number of manufacturing plants, automotive repair shops, metal plating facilities and utility companies. The proposed "Gateway Center" will be a four-story, mixed-use complex that will include 80,000 square feet of office space, 210,000 square feet of retail space and 35,000 square feet for restaurants. Once completed, it is expected to generate $1.7 annually in new tax revenues, create about 750 new jobs, and be used as leverage for another $66 million in private and public investments.
"At HUD, we want to rejuvenate America's neighborhoods so that people who live, work and raise families there will have brighter futures," Cuomo said. "I pledge that HUD will work hand-in-hand with County and City officials and their partners to make sure that these funds to create new businesses, new jobs and new opportunities for the people of Los Angeles County."
Cuomo made the announcement with Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina in a telephone conference call from Washington this afternoon.
"HUD has been a great partner in our efforts to revitalize Los Angeles County's neighborhoods. I would like to applaud Secretary Cuomo for his support of economic development and brownfields remediation in our community," Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said.
Cuomo said that the $11 million in funding for the City of Commerce will come in two forms: a $1 million Economic Development Initiative (EDI) grant, which helps cities fund activities that create jobs, primarily among lower and moderate income residents; and a $10 million Section 108 guaranteed loan, which enables communities to borrow funds at reduced interest rates to promote economic development, expand the housing stock or improve public facilities.
From the late 1970s through the early 1980s, plants such as U.S. Steel, Chrysler, B.F. Goodrich, Uniroyal Tires and others closed in that section of town. Another wave of plant closures hit in 1992, severely reducing the city tax base. Since then, the redevelopment of the Uniroyal plant locale has helped the City recover from its earlier economic difficulties. A 193-room hotel is currently under construction nearby.
West Hollywood's $10 million in funding will also come in two forms: a $2 million Brownfields Development Initiative (BEDI) grant, which assists communities to redevelop areas with abandoned factories or contaminated land and return them to economically productive uses; and an $8 million Section 108 loan.
HUD's EDI program was established in 1994 to help cities revitalize the economies of distressed areas and create jobs. Communities winning either EDI or BEDI grants use them in combination with HUD's Section 108 loan guarantees.
Los Angeles County is one of 19 communities across the country to have won an EDI award and one of 22 to have won a BEDI award this year. Some 45 communities competed for EDI awards and 32 competed for BEDI awards.
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