Photo Gallery: City Begins Plan to Revitalize 'Gateway to Monrovia'

The view looking south from the corner of Fifth Avenue and Huntington Drive is starkly different depending on which way you turn.

To the right, a thriving business district welcomes those traveling westbound into the city of Arcadia. To the left, a storage facility and parking lot sits behind an old, worn-down sign announcing entry into the city of Monrovia.

The southeast corner of the intersection and the property behind it has proved difficult to develop because a county flood control channel cuts diagonally through the land, ruining what city leaders describe as an otherwise perfect location for new retailers or housing developments.

So the city has begun work on covering the wash so that local property owners can build over it. A $157,705 contract was awarded earlier this month to the Cordoba Corporation to design a cover for the wash, and construction work on the project could begin within the next 18 to 24 months, according to City Manager Scott Ochoa.

Ochoa described the area as prime real estate for redevelopment.

"It's probably the most visible corner in the entire city," Ochoa said.

However, the flood control channel cuts right through the surrounding property and can't be built around, Ochoa said.

"It really can’t be used as anything else than it is right now, which is a parking garage and a storage facility," Ochoa said. "(The wash) just absolutely kills that site."

The process of covering the wash is complex and involves designing a concrete cap that will fit over the channel without interfering in its flood control purpose, Ochoa said. The covering the city will install would extend over the wash about 150 feet back, he said.

"You’ll actually have--literally--a lid that goes over the wash," Ochoa said. "We actually have to build basically what amounts to a saddle over the top of the wash."

A walking trail along the wash will also have to be re-routed under the city's plan, Ochoa said. Included in that trail is a tunnel that allows people to pass under Huntington Drive. But the graffiti-covered tunnel has been used instead by transients to sleep in, he said.

"Folks are living down there," Ochoa said. "It's dark, its dank, its graffitied, it just isn’t very safe."

Two companies own the undeveloped property on each side of the wash. The hotel owns the portion to the east of the channel, while Spectrum Properties Inc. owns the western area. Representatives from each company said they support the plan to cover the wash.

"We’re excited about what the city can do as far as redevelopment in that area, especially because it’s the gateway to Monrovia," said Luis Plascencia, the general manager for the Doubletree. "If the wash is covered, it would be a win-win situation for the city and hotel because it would increase the potential of revenues coming into the hotel and city."

Development on the site is still years away and Plascencia said his company does not yet know how it will proceed. He said, though, that they are willing to explore partnering with Spectrum in developing the site.

Al Cabraloff, president of Spectrum, said plans to develop the site have been put on the backburner in recent years because of the economy and plunging property values. He said ideas for the site are still preliminary.

"It's kind of been a variety of different scenarios that could be developed there but there would definitely be a retail component," Cabraloff said, adding that a restaurant or retailer would probably serve as the centerpiece along Huntington.

Upscale housing is also being considered for the site in addition to retail opportunities. But the economy will have to improve before any serious plans can be put into motion, Cabraloff said.

"I think the main overriding issue is just the economy and what’s happened to real estate prices," he said. "Rent has gone down significantly for both retail offices and apartments."

The fate of the city's redevelopment agency is also up in the air. Governor Jerry Brown has stated that he , so future funding of the wash project could dry up if the governor has his way, Ochoa said.