This article appeared in the Monrovia Patch website on 2/23/12.
Gold Line and Monrovia Reach Landmark $40.6 Million Deal
The city and Gold Line Construction Authority signed an agreement that will expedite the Gold Line Foothill Extension.
By Nathan McIntire
The Gold Line Construction Authority announced Thursday that it has signed a deal with Monrovia to acquire land needed for a maintenance yard project that will keep the the Gold Line Foothill Extension on track.
The agreement, which still needs approval from a judge overseeing eminent domain proceedings, calls for Monrovia to sell 14 acres of land along Evergreen Avenue to the GLCA for $40.6 million.
“Needless to say, the terms agreed to today are an important achievement for the project,” GLCA CEO Habib Balian wrote in an email. “We are appreciative of the City of Monrovia’s efforts to work with the Authority to come to terms that were mutually acceptable, and to keep the project on time and on budget.”
After settling with local property owner George Brokate earlier this month, the agreement with Monrovia allows the GLCA to acquire 100 percent of the land its needs to build a rail maintenance yard for the Foothill Extension–a facility the MTA required for the line to progress.
In addition to the $40.6 million purchase price for the land, the GLCA agreed to pay up to $15.75 million to build public improvements to city intersections, roads and other infrastructure near the future Gold Line maintenance yard. The city agreed to reimburse the GLCA $200,000 for its costs fighting Brokate in court and up to $650,000 for environmental cleanup needed at the maintenance yard site.
The total sum of Thursday’s deal appears close to the $56 million deal the two parties struck last year before the state’s elimination of redevelopment effectively nullified the arrangement.
