Shiraz Tangri was quoted extensively in a Los Angeles Daily Journal article discussing the aftermath of California’s disbanding of redevelopment agencies and the unanswered questions left behind.
“Seeing how these successor agencies have tried to deal with assets gives comfort to folks that [pending] projects will be dealt with in a systematic way, but some projects have fallen into a gray area,” Tangri said.
Tangri attended initial meetings of Los Angeles’ oversight board—a board tasked with supervising the closure of 400 redevelopment agencies—as it began to decide which of hundreds of redevelopment projects to recommend and prioritize for state Department of Finance funding and spoke in support of the downtown street car project, which included the restoration of a historic transportation network that had secured an $8.5 million commitment from the city’s former redevelopment agency.
Tangri said obtaining redevelopment dollars was crucial because they’re helping to leverage another $220 million in construction and operational costs for the project. Though the project’s redevelopment contract was signed “years ago,” he said, it must satisfy certain conditions to get redevelopment money, including completing the environmental review process and getting approval of a local tax assessment district to help cover costs.
“Every one of those milestones is another decision to be made by the oversight board on whether it’s obligated to release those dollars,” Tangri said. “What will we have to do to satisfy the oversight board? Are there other steps we’re legally mandated to do? That’s the remaining uncertainty.”
Tangri added that the board hasn’t been able to give “people clear comfort” about honoring future contract provisions for redevelopment projects. “There’s a little bit of confusion and a little bit of general overriding concern about how the oversight board will proceed,” Tangri said.