CIBA Real Estate to Work with City on Industrial Condo Project

The city of Monrovia will work with CIBA Real Estate on an industrial condominium project on South Magnolia Avenue at Chestnut Avenue.

The Monrovia City Council Tuesday night voted 4-0 to authorize staff to enter into a letter of agreement with CIBA to develop the property.  Mayor Pro Tem Becky Shevlin recused herself, citing that her husband has worked with the property through his job at Chicago Title, and left the dais.

The council's decision to go with CIBA went against the staff's recommendation that the city move forward with the Wine of the Month Club, which also had submitted plans for the Magnolia Avenue site.

Wine of the Month Club owner Paul Kalemkiarian had proposed a 13,000 to 16,000-square foot warehouse and customer service center at the site, which would have enabled him to expand his existing business on the adjacent parcel at 907 S. Magnolia Avenue.

Kalemkiarian said that the business has outgrown the current site and would have to move, possibly out of town, without the additional space.

"We have six to 12 months left," he said.

City Manager Laurie Lile said that Wine of the Month is consistently one of the top sales tax generating businesses in the city.

However, the council opted to go with CIBA, largely because of the company's history with the city and that site.

The city's purchased the Magnolia Avenue property November 2006 from Azteca Milling with the idea of eventually selling it as surplus property, according to the staff report to council.

The first phase of Station Square involved a plan to relocate tenants of the Hamby Industrial Park to make way for that project.  The city was looking for a place where those tenants could move to and proposed using the Magnolia Avenue property for building industrial condominium units similar to those at Hamby Park. The staff spoke to numerous developers about constructing the condominiums but only one offered a proposal that would pay the entire amount that the city's Redevelopment Agency invested and did not require a subsidy. 

The Redevelopment Agency board agreed to work with CIBA.

However, the subsequent dismantling of redevelopment agencies by law, resulted in the termination of the agreement with CIBA in December 2013, according to staff.

Representatives from CIBA said Tuesday night that they are ready to move ahead now with an industrial condominium project at the Magnolia site.

Under their proposal, CIBA would build 10 industrial condos for sale in a 16,000-square foot building. The Planning Commission reviewed the plans and recommended approval.

Councilman Tom Adams said he felt the city should stick with CIBA because of that past connection to the site and the resources they have put towards crafting a plan.

"It doesn't seem right to take somebody who's been spending money for six years at our request and tell them we don't need them anymore," he said.

Councilman Alexander Blackburn said he liked the potential of the industrial condos to draw new business owners to Monrovia.

"That's a potential you don't get when you go with the established," he said.

Mayor Mary Ann Lutz said she had some concerns that CIBA was not ready to go forward with its plan, but hearing they were, agreed to go with the condo project. She added that staff would be happy to help Wine of the Month Club find other possible locations in the city.

"If CIBA is in fact ready to move, this is the company we have been working with," she said. "I support the motion, but that does not mean we are not supportive of Wine of the Month Club."