Editor’s note: Litchfield Park’s State of the City address Feb. 13 covered numerous subjects. To best serve readers, the Litchfield Park Independent is breaking it down into a series of stories. First up is an update on the City Center project.
This is the year Litchfield Park expects to break ground on its much-anticipated City Center project.
During the annual State of the City address Feb. 13, Mayor Thomas L. Schoaf gave an update on the project, which will transform 30 acres downtown into a mixed-use development featuring high-end retail shops, restaurants and office space around a 2.5-acre park where residents can gather and the city can hold events and festivals.
“City Center is probably the number one comment or question that I get asked by residents,” he said. “We are very close to breaking ground.”
If all goes well, ground could be broken in July, though September is more likely, the mayor said.
READ: Litchfield Park to install license plate reader cameras
Project history
First conceived as the Village Center Specific Plan and adopted in 1996, the project wasn’t implemented then because the property owners were either unwilling or unable to build. Between 2014 and 2017, the city acquired four parcels for the project.
“We did that because we looked at that area as being critical for the long-term future of the city of Litchfield Park,” Mayor Schoaf said. “We say that not only because it needs to be a source of financial income through sales tax as we go forward, but it is also the center of our city and it needs to be a vibrant place that expresses the city’s and the residents’ desire for a unique residential atmosphere.”
If the city controls the development, which will include partnerships with private developers, “we can try to make sure that that’s true, that we accomplish both of those goals,” he said.
In 2018, the city began working with Destination Litchfield Park to create development guidelines approved by the council in November 2019 along with a general plan amendment that was the first step in allowing the project to go forward.
A model development agreement, which is an agreement between the city and those purchasing land to develop in the City Center, was created and the city set up a bidding process for parcel developers.
In January 2020, city officials told Independent Newsmedia they expected to begin infrastructure improvements and begin land transfers to public companies with plans to build sometime that year.
The COVID-19 pandemic delayed those plans, but the city wasn’t idle when it came to the project.
Completed to date
In additional to completing subsurface soil testing, the city has located and identified existing utilities.
“The was no easy task,” Mayor Schoaf said. “These are some tremendously old utilities running through this section of the city ... they were difficult to find.”
The city also hired Achen-Gardner Construction LLC of Chandler as construction manager at-risk, the mayor said.
Construction manager at-risk is a delivery method in which the construction management company commits to deliver a project within a guaranteed maximum price based on construction documents and specifications at the time of the contract, plus any reasonably inferred items or tasks.
READ: Blue Sky on the hunt for new farm land in Litchfield Park
Achen-Gardner, which has completed engineering designs for infrastructure improvements, will submit construction bids as Litchfield Park prepares to go forward with the project, Mayor Schoaf said.
Phase I, estimated to cost $21 million, will include construction of a roundabout on Litchfield Road at Village Parkway, extension of Village Parkway to Old Litchfield Road, and initial work on the 2.5-acre park including grass and irrigation systems.
The City Center street layout has been completed, but can be modified if a developer wants to make use of more than one parcel, the mayor said.
Design work for the extension of Village Parkway to Old Litchfield Road has been completed. Other streets to be extended include Desert Avenue to Village Parkway and La Loma Avenue toward Wigwam Boulevard, he said, noting that La Loma may not ultimately connect to Wigwam if the city opts to allocate some of that space for development.
The city’s Recreation and Public Grounds Commission has worked extensively on the 2.5-acre park and has approved landscaping plans.
“For anyone who would like to look at it, it’s on our website,” Mayor Schoaf said.
City Center landscape, hardscape and signage concepts; grading and drainage plans; and utilities plans all have been completed, he said.
What’s next
In the next few weeks, the city expects to receive construction costs for the infrastructure improvements, and utilities work could begin as early as April, though June is more likely, the mayor said.
The city also could move forward with the private sector soon, he said.
“We actually have a local developer that is very serious about constructing the very first building within the development,” Mayor Schoaf said. “Those discussions have been going on for several months. In the next week or so, renderings and concepts could be submitted.”
The council also needs to finalize a financial structure for the entire development, expected to be built in multiple phases over the next four or five years.
“We’ve got to have a financial plan that makes sure this development is going to be financially sustainable development, not only for the city and its residents, but also for the people that want to use this and be the vendors who will occupy the space, either the restaurants or the retail businesses or the office users,” the mayor said. “It has to be successful for them in terms of cost.”
Staff is working on financial structures that will be brought before the council for approval before ground is broken, he said.
“The central area of the roundabout will be a beautiful monument and entranceway into the city,” Mayor Schoaf said. “It will serve to notify everybody that they’re in Litchfield Park and it will serve as an entryway into the City Center itself.
To see the City Center plan and design guidelines, visit litchfield-park.org and click on Departments, Planning & Zoning and City Center. To watch the virtual State the City address, visit YouTube.com and search “city of Litchfield Park.”
Kelly O’Sullivan can be reached at kosullivan@newszap.com or 760-963-1697.
By 
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here