At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the Council unanimously voted to move forward with an “exclusive negotiating agreement” with the Revitalization Partners Group (RPG) for the refurbishment and management of the Civic Auditorium. Under the ENA, the city agrees to negotiate solely with Revitalization Partners Group, or RPG, to determine the feasibility for redeveloping the Civic Auditorium site. The ENA also sets forth agreed upon timelines and performance schedules, creates financial responsibilities and outlines future discussions.
The term of the agreement is six months.
“I look forward to executing the Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with RPG group so that we can begin in earnest the work of determining what it will take to restore the Civic Auditorium,” said Councilmember Caroline Torosis in a statement to Next.
“I hope that through this partnership, we can return the civic center to a vital economic development engine for the city.”
In June of 2013, the Civic Auditorium hosted its final show, as it needed costly seismic retrofits to stay open. Over the years, various efforts to revitalize the Civic have been proposed and have been rejected.
Most recently, the city considered a pair of proposals last year required under the state’s Surplus Land Act. Ultimately, the Council rejected proposals from SMMUSD and the Santa Monica Community Corporation that would have paid for the Civic to re-open, but that the site would host not-only bring public entertainment back to the downtown area, but also educational uses or affordable housing.
Following the rejected proposals, a group of community activists organized under the banner of Save the Civic, and took it upon themselves to recruit organizations interested in rehabbing and managing the Civic as a public auditorium while the city itself released an open call for proposals.
Save the Civic morphed into champions for the RPG Group when it emerged as the lead contender over the summer. The Council signed an “Exclusive Negotiating Agreement” with RPG that basically says the city will only negotiate with RPG on a final development and management plan for the Civic property. The original agreement was open-ended, but at the end of January the city council gave RPG one month to complete negotiations.
This led to consternation from Save the Civic that either negotiations had completely broken down or that the new Council majority (four of the seven Councilmembers that entered into the first agreement were replaced in the November election) was not as interested in moving forward with RPG.
However, RPG submitted a final proposal to the city on February 24, a couple of days before the deadline. Following the advice of city staff, the Council approved the agreement last night.
Despite the unanimous vote to proceed, at least one Councilmember is concerned that the proposal by RPG may not work out, and the long-delayed refurbishment of the Civic will just be delayed yet again.
“Everyone I talk to wants to see a concert venue there with some form of revenue generating commercial enterprise. Revitalization Partners Group needs to prove they are capable of pulling this off during this negotiation period, because if the dollars and cents don’t add up, we’re back to the starting line again, with another year and a half wasted,” said Councilmember Dan Hall in a statement. Hall’s full statement can be found at the bottom of this post.
RPG is a consortium of Los Angeles area based companies: Make Good Group, Geyser Holdings, The (Irving) Azoff Company, Oak View Group, and Live Nation.
Full Dan Hall statement:
Listen, I’m a music lover and avid concert and festival goer. I have also crawled under the hydraulic floor of the Civic, walked through the green room where the Stones and Eagles got ready backstage. I sat on the top row and imagined what the concerts must’ve been like… truly incredible. As someone who cares about history and loves mid-century modern architecture, I appreciate the nostalgia some have over this building and the decades of memories made there.
That said, my primary concern with this project remains the financial feasibility of any rehabilitation of the building and the highest and best use of the site for economic growth and revenue generation. The City cannot afford to waste another decade on such valuable land. So, in my mind, it is now or never.
Everyone I talk to wants to see a concert venue there with some form of revenue generating commercial enterprise. Revitalization Partners Group needs to prove they are capable of pulling this off during this negotiation period, because if the dollars and cents don’t add up, we’re back to the starting line again, with another year and a half wasted.
