Conceptual plan for the G2 parcel
The road has been long and the prize elusive, but it looks like the city is finally on the cusp of sealing the deal to purchase the so-called crown jewel Los Angeles River property at Taylor Yard called G2 parcel.
We're very close to acquiring the property, said Arturo Chavez, Councilmember Gil Cedillo's Chief of Staff. Chavez' reveals this hesitantly, only because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations. The current effort started with a grant from the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA), which the River LA had used to start analysis and negotiations. Then, the mayor's team brought Union Pacific to the table and councilmember Gil Cedillo initiated a council motion that committed the city to negotiations.
Negotiations also have funding behind it. The Mayor's office has a $40 million budget identified for G2 parcel's acquisition. The current plan is to source this by issuing municipal bonds, a move that needs city council approval. The state of California also plans to utilize $25 million in unused park and water bond funds, announced California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Le n last September. Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC) will have to apply for Wildlife Conservation Board to be granted the funds.
This isn't the first time the city has heard such good news. Every so often, metaphorical silver threads bolster the city's hopes. It sometimes takes the guise of budget lines in the Proposition O funds, which was eventually zeroed out in favor of other projects. Or, it can also be city council motions to check the status of negotiations for the critical land's purchase.
But perhaps the finish line is finally in sight. According to Chavez, two key factors have changed in the last few years.
First, the city finally has a willing seller in Union Pacific.
Abandoned railroad tracks at the G2 parcel || Photo by: Nate Baird/Flickr/Creative Commons License
Second, City Council has approved the environmental report for Alternative 20, the $1.3-billion plan to revitalize the Los Angeles River, solidifying G2 parcel's role in the ambitious plan. A motion by Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell's now asks for all Alternative 20 projects to go through his River committee as well as the Budget committee to ensure everything is financially sound.
With G2's role addressed in Alternative 20, the city has been given the missing piece to proceed with purchase: a clear reason. [The city] can't just purchase property without a purpose. We have to be specific about it. The previous negotiations had the property being purchased for Proposition O, a water project, but now that's changed because Alternative 20 has been approved. Chavez says.
G2 is widely considered a lynchpin acquisition. Without it, the Los Angeles Revitalization would lose much of its impact.
--
--
This site would create a 42-acre green space in the middle of the city, providing extensive habitat restoration and a key access point so that local communities can connect to the rivers natural beauty, said the Mayor's press secretary Connie Llanos. The parcel is included in both the Citys Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration project. The surrounding parcels have already been developed into the Rio de Los Angeles State Park, the Sonia Sotomayor Learning Academies, and the Taylor Yard Transit Village. Thanks in large part to the work of community leaders, including Melanie Winter and Raul Macias, who fought against industrial development at the 250-acre Taylor Yard, which G2 parcel sits on a portion of, in the 1990s and early 2000s.
According to Ellen Mackey, Senior Ecologist with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the G2 parcel is one of the few large undeveloped areas by the river left in Los Angeles. Its sprawling proportions could help restore our emaciated riparian habitat by slowing the flow of water and letting it infiltrate into the ground, where it is cleansed and added to the city's groundwater.
Rio de Los Angeles State Park, conceptual overview || Photo courtesy of The River Project
Not only does it play an outsized role for the city, but specifically to the northeast communities under Cedillo Chavez points out. Apart from the G2 Parcel, there is literally no access to river in the Northeast. City acquisition of the 42-acre property would give communities such as Cypress Park, Glassell Park, Lincoln Heights and Boyle Heights access to the river.
Christopher Kroll of California State Coastal Conservancy agrees. He said to KCET in a 2013 interview, The Rio de Los Angeles state park isnt complete really until it touches the river, said Kroll, Its really important that someone gets that in the public, whether its the state or the city.
But before the city can plan its ideal future by the river, it first needs to sign on the dotted line and there are proper procedures to be followed. Endless details need to be cross-checked by various city departments and approved by City Council.
One potentially thorny issue to address is who will undertake the clean up of the former locomotive engine maintenance yard. As the landowner, Union Pacific is ultimately responsible for cleaning up the soil contamination, or at the very least, ensuring that someone see that it is done.
The G2 parcels former locomotive engine maintenance yard || Photo by: Nate Baird/Flickr/Creative Commons License
If everything goes smoothly, Chavez does hope to see G2 in the City's hands by the end of the year. However, knowing the mind boggling moving parts required to execute a deal like this, it would be prudent not to set our calendars on this very optimistic estimate.
Chavez cautions Angelenos not to
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
18/04/2024
Tom Durant Pritchard as Alexander Blake
Thursday 18 April 2024 Tom Durant Prit...
18/04/2024
Alone Australia goes from strength to strength
18 April, 2024
Media releases
The program again delivers for SBS with significant uplifts in digital BVOD vi...
18/04/2024
ORANGE COUNTY, Va., April 18, 2024 - L3Harris Technologies [NYSE:LHX] has entered into an agreement with Orange County, Virginia, to fund the expansion and mode...
18/04/2024
L3Harris Sky Warden multi-mission aircraft, equipped with the WESCAM MX-15 and WESCAM MX-20 EO/IR sensor systems, was selected for USSOCOMs Armed Overwatch prog...
18/04/2024
MELBOURNE, Fla., April 18, 2024 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) has received ...
18/04/2024
LAS VEGAS The National Association of Broadcasters is reporting that more than 61,000 people attended the 2024 NAB Show, where artificial intelligence and the c...
18/04/2024
Ann Keefe, Regional Director - UK and Ireland at Kingston Technology, explains how storage and memory decisions made now are underpinning creativity in the futu...
18/04/2024
Krisha Marcano Announced as Dean of Theater for Boston Conservatory at Berklee The theater educator, choreographer, and performer will join Boston Conservator...
18/04/2024
The newly acquired UKVI licence enables Escape Studios to recruit and retain international students
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 18, 2024
The newl...
18/04/2024
Attendees from more than 163 countries were present, including 34 delegation buying groups from around the world
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 18, 202...
18/04/2024
In August 2023, Dyn Media launched as a new broadcaster in European sports, aimed at giving sports beyond football the exposure and viewership they deserve. The...
18/04/2024
Hitomi Broadcast, market leader in audio/video alignment and latency tools based in the UK, has signed a partnership deal with global broadcast rental specialis...
18/04/2024
18 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and Dynamic Television announce new Scripted Initiative
Savage River
Screen Australia and Los Angeles-based telev...
18/04/2024
Vislink's DragonFly V - The Company's Smallest-Ever Transmitter Debuted ...
18/04/2024
MediaSilo to Offer Camera to Cloud with Atomos
Brie Clayton April 17, 2024
0 Comments
Integration between MediaSilo and Atomos Cloud Studio unlocking ...
18/04/2024
MultiDyne Updates its SilverBULLET Series to Serve More Fiber-Optic Links
Brie Clayton April 17, 2024
0 Comments
MultiDyne Fiber Optic Solutions intro...
18/04/2024
Cinedeck Partners with Paramount to Revolutionize Content Delivery Process
Brie Clayton April 17, 2024
0 Comments
Cinedeck, a pioneer in integrated de...
18/04/2024
Unreal for video adding rocks and foliage
Graham Quince April 17, 2024
0 Comments
Welcome to my series on learning Unreal Engine for After Effects u...
18/04/2024
Best Budget Beginner-Friendly 4k Drone
Sean Alami April 17, 2024
0 Comments
Potensic Atom 4k 3 axis Gimbal Drone, ideal drone for beginners.
Some con...
18/04/2024
Rocky Mount Mills will be overflowing with runners, families and friends, all fo...
18/04/2024
Berklee's Yoon-Ji Lee Receives Guggenheim Fellowship Lee, an assistant professor of composition, creates music based on unconventional and nonlinear struc...
18/04/2024
Ben Sherwood, former president of Disney ABC Television Group, has been named CEO and publisher at The Daily Beast. Joanna Coles, former chief content officer a...
18/04/2024
Ping pong for the masses: Bringing an old sport to a brand new audience with Wor...
18/04/2024
Fanatical fans: IMG on bringing the world of table tennis to a new global audien...
18/04/2024
Back to All News
Netflix Follows Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in New SeriesPlay Video
Play Video
Entertainment
18 April 2024
GlobalUnited States
Link copie...
18/04/2024
Back to All News
Chinese-Language Revenge Thriller Series The Resurrected'...
18/04/2024
Back to All News
The Witcher Season 4 Begins Production in the UK and Netflix A...
18/04/2024
Apple has reduced its overall greenhouse gas emissions by more than 55 percent since 2015, the company shared today in its 2024 Environmental Progress Report. T...
18/04/2024
Prison Journalism: April's experiences of black boudoirThabo Mthembu was incarcerated in Pollsmoor Prison from 2014 to 2019. Read Thabo's story
by Tha...
18/04/2024
Prison Journalism: Can gangsterism and violence be reduced in prison?Dean Mashimbwe, a Zimbabwean migrant residing in Cape Town, was incarcerated at Pollsmoor C...
18/04/2024
Software making music: How DJs are doing itSoftware plays a big part in music production, recording, and performances. Here's what DJs are using, and how yo...
18/04/2024
Tonight on House of Zwide: Zanele later blindsides an unwitting Faith into meeti...
18/04/2024
Debut author stuns with international bestselling thriller Anna O'Matthew Blake burst onto the book scene with his bestseller Anna O', a deliciously d...
18/04/2024
It's time to get a little wicked. Members can now stream No Rest for the Wicked from the cloud.
It leads six new games joining the GeForce NOW library of m...
18/04/2024
Skeem Saam: Wednesday's episode, 17 April 2024 [video]Missed an episode of Skeem Saam? No problem! Watch the latest episode of your favourite South African ...
18/04/2024
Watch: Trailers for the best Afrikaans movies ever madeDon't know what to watch? Here are some of the best Afrikaans movie trailers ever made, including Too...
18/04/2024
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Thales alongside partners SISINT and CONECTICABO...
18/04/2024
In response to growing concerns raised regarding the adverse impact of TikTok co...
18/04/2024
We were saddened to learn this morning of the passing of our friend and former colleague, Alf McCarthy who died yesterday.
We remember Alf as a popular present...
18/04/2024
NVIDIA today recognized 18 partners in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for their achievements and commitment to driving AI adoption.
The recipients were hon...
17/04/2024
Opening today, the exploration is aimed at selecting a location that will preser...
17/04/2024
On April 18 and 19, experts from across the audio industry-including artists, pu...
17/04/2024
With its particular combination of talent, ambition, culture, and, of course, wo...
17/04/2024
At Spotify, we want to equip student creators with the tools and resources neede...
17/04/2024
L3Harris Communications Australia Field Service support continues to grow with a...
17/04/2024
An optical technician lays on a diving board suspended between NASAs Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescopes primary and secondary mirrors. The photo is a projected ...
Conceptual plan for the G2 parcel
