Long-awaited plans to redevelop a 157-acre former landfill site in Carson could be under construction as early as the summer, after the City Council recently approved an agreement intended to kick start a project to develop an outlet mall that stalled in 2020.
The former Cal Compact Landfill, on the southwest side of the 405 Freeway, is one of the largest undeveloped land tracts in Los Angeles County.
Carson officials have been working for decades to build something of use to the community on the site. But those plans, which have ranged from building an NFL stadium to a giant mall, have fallen through every time.
City officials have largely attributed those project failures to the difficulty and cost of remediating the land, which was contaminated during its life as a landfill.
It wasn’t until 2018 that hope for the site was renewed when Cam-Carson, LLC, a joint venture under which mall developers Simon Property Group Inc. and Macerich struck a deal with the city to develop a premium outlet mall there.
The project, though, has faced several setbacks since then.
Under the initial deal, for example, the Carson Reclamation Authority was responsible for completing the extensive environmental remediation work to ensure the landfill site was safe to build on.
Construction on the site, though, temporarily stopped in early 2020 after Cam-Carson filed a lawsuit against Carson and the authority, accusing the agencies of financial mismanagement and negligence.
Then, in 2022, Cam-Carson and the city struck a deal to settle all outstanding litigation and amended the development agreement to transfer responsibility for remediation to the developers.
Now, as part of the continued effort to settle that litigation, lure Cam-Carson back to the project and ensure the outlet mall finally gets built, the City Council this week approved a $26 million economic development benefit agreement with the company.
The agreement is being made under a section of Carson’s City Charter that allows the city to provide loans, grants, funds or other economic benefits to developers intended to build projects that eliminate blight, create jobs and provide a general public benefit for residents, according to a staff report.
The outlet mall project — on a portion of the landfill site dubbed “Cell 2,” directly abutting the 405 freeway — is expected to serve as a new major job hub in Carson, generating about 1,500 new permanent jobs alongside 1,000 indirect new employees.
Carson is also expected to receive more than $5 million in sales tax revenue from the outlet mall once it’s open to the public, the staff report said.
“The purpose of this agreement is really to kind of facilitate the settlement of litigation with Cam(-Carson),” Assistant City Manager John Raymond said during this week’s meeting, “but also to create the incentive for them to come back on the site and complete the development of the outlet mall on that on that property.”
A bulk of the money, $21 million, will be transferred to to the Carson Reclamation Authority via an escrow account, from which Cam-Carson will then be able to draw funds to develop the project.
The CRA, which was previously charged with overseeing the site’s remediation, had already undertaken some of that work in 2019 prior to the construction stoppage and litigation, Raymond said.
“This (agreement),” Raymond said, “helps us facilitate that portion of the work and then moves them into the development of the rest of the project.”
Another $5 million subsidy will also be transferred from Carson’s general fund reserves to the CRA. That money will be used to pay for the design, planning and implementation of various infrastructure upgrades that need to be completed on the site.
If Cam-Carson, within six months of the transfer, choose to abandon the project, fail to dismiss its lawsuit against the city and CRA, or are in default in any way, the money will automatically be transferred back to Carson’s reserves, City Attorney Sunny Soltani said during the Tuesday, Dec. 19, meeting.
“I think that’s a critical thing,” Soltani said. “Nobody gets to keep that money unless they come to the project.”
Besides the project on Cell 2, meanwhile, work on other portions of the former landfill site are underway.
Faring, a company that is developing a portion of the landfill site, plans to build a country mart — which will include retail, restaurants, office space, a performance stage, a pavilion, an event lawn and a dog park.
The site also requires various infrastructure improvements — including developing two city streets that bisect the landfill site, Lenardo and Stamps drives; along with various utility lines and buffer zones required as part of the site’s remediation.
The cost to develop Lenardo Drive, Soltani said, is currently estimated to cost about $38 million — though that number is still being finalized.
“The CRA is also working with another developer, Carson Goose Owner, on the other side of Lenardo,” Raymond said, “and Carson Goose will be making a contribution toward the construction of Lenardo as well, and the CRA will actually be constructing that street.”
TCarson Goose has agreed to pay $12.5 million as its fair share toward the road, along with another $7.5 million that can be used for additional infrastructure work if there are additional costs.
The road is a critical portion of the landfill site’s redevelopment, Soltani said, as vertical construction can’t be done without it.
“Cam-Carson will not be contributing any monies towards the road,” she said. “The deal was restructured, (so) now they’re responsible for all of the costs of completing the remedial systems. In exchange for that, they got rid of the responsibility they had for the road.”
The City Council approved the item and conducted a first reading of the ordinance during its Tuesday meeting — but the ordinance still needs a second reading and the CRA’s approval.
The council will have another meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 28, to conduct the ordinance’s second reading. The CRA will also meet that day to OK the document.
The $26 million, meanwhile, isn’t expected to be put to use until March — and if all goes to plan, construction on the various projects, including Cam-Carson’s outlet mall, should get underway in the summer.
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