Arcadia had a central redevelopment area roughly defined by the 210 south to below Huntington, from 5th Avenue West to Colorado excepting a keyhole of residential area above Colorado and below the 210.
Redevelopment achievements since the formation of the Arcadia Redevelopment Agency in 1968 have been significant including: 6 major hotels, 19 office buildings, 4 restaurants , 2 retail buildings, affordable housing, a new Police and Fire Headquarters and the Gilb Museum. An estimated 1400 full and 2000 part-time jobs have been created.

Prior to February 1, 2012 there were 400 redevelopment agencies in California each responsible to create projects to improve local blighted areas and develop affordable housing. Funding of the agencies was from incremental revenues increases above an established base of property taxes. When the state economy tanked, the state got hungry for extra revenue sources… and redevelopment monies were seen as one way to prop up the state budget.

After February 1, 2012 Assembly Bills 1×26 and 1×27 dismantled the redevelopment process and created “successor agencies” to meet the redevelopment obligations (e.g. bonds). Much litigation has ensued with the State Supreme Court upholding the first bill and striking down the second. A further bill 1484 cleaned up the issues remaining but 150 cases are still in process with 250 appeals to the payment process.In Arcadia the successor agency charged is the City Council. The sale of the property to Rusnak for the expansion of the Mercedes dealership is one outcome of the process, strictly controlled by the State Department of Finance. The new Rusnak will have an appearance similar to Van Nuys Mercedes (click here)

Redevelopment going forward will be different as there has been no strong replacement legislation. The big influx of monies to the state did not happen as expected because there were $20 billion of obligations by the agencies for the projects already in process. The opportunity of the future will be public/private partnerships.