The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo Herald Publications - El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 105, No. 1 - December 31, 2015 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................10 Classifieds............................4 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Film Review..........................4 Legals............................ 10,11 Police Reports.....................2 Real Estate.......................7-9 Sports....................................3 Weekend Forecast 2016: Happy New Year Herald Publications wishes you all a prosperous and happy New Year! Rivers McCullough, six-months-old, son of John and Alissa McCullough. Photo by Marcy Dugan. • Friday Sunny 65˚/43˚ Saturday Mostly Sunny 65˚/46˚ Sunday AM Clouds/ PM Sun 63˚/49˚ El Segundo: 2015 in Review By Brian Simon A look at some of the top stories in town over the last year… Budget Balanced In September, the El Segundo City Council adopted the 2015/16 fiscal budget with expenditures exceeding revenues by $1.2 million. To balance the books, the Council applied excess reserves from the previous year and also reduced the annual transfer to the economic uncertainty account by $250,000 (with Mayor Pro Tem Jacobson the sole no vote because he did not wish to cut monies from this fund). During summer strategic planning sessions to address department head requests, the Council among other moves opted to fund two new police officers and promote a sergeant; subsidize a new fire engine and rescue ambulance; give Public Works the go-ahead to hire three street maintenance workers; and allocate additional personnel for the Finance Department and City Clerk’s office. The Council also decided to increase City reserve percentages from 18 to 19 percent. Commercial Projects Thriving/ New Businesses Arriving It was another busy year for new commercial projects in town, with more than $1 billion in active and planned development highlighted by the late spring opening of Mar Ventures’ and Continental Development Corporation’s 15-acre elevon project at Campus El Segundo. One of the largest for-sale commercial office developments to break ground in the region in the last decade, it was almost completely sold out by year’s end. The Los Angeles Lakers purchased a 5.6-acre parcel at the site to build new training and headquarter facilities approved by the Council in April, while EVA Air also bought land for its US operations. The Point, the $80 million shopping complex at Sepulveda and Rosecrans developed by Federal Realty Investment Trust, opened during the summer with a number of high-end retailers and restaurants in place (and more still on the way) as well as an outdoor plaza area for events and concerts. Progress continued for several new hotels slated to open in the next few years, with a January 2016 debut scheduled for a 247- room Aloft Hotel on the south side of the Hacienda property on Sepulveda. A 356-room Fairfield Inn and Suites on the north side of that property is set for a late 2016 opening. Future hotels include Hampton Inn and Suites (888-898 Sepulveda, estimated to open in early 2017), Cambria Suites (199 N. Continental, early 2017), and SpringHill Suites (2130 E. Maple, mid-2018). Across the street from the Hacienda site, In ‘N Out Burger (after lengthy delays due to a snag with Caltrans) began construction in the spring and was near completion as of press time. Property owners Decron Properties also added an outdoor dining courtyard for shopping center patrons. Notable new business tenants either already here or on the way included clinical stage biotech cancer research company Kite Pharma; Sanrio, Inc., the Japanese parent firm behind Hello Kitty; DaVita’s HealthCare Partners division; NYX Cosmetics (the parent company for L’Oreal); prominent European aerospace innovation organization Starburst Accelerator; and developer Tishman Speyer, who will convert a low-rise building at 555 S. Aviation into a creative office campus. Downtown El Segundo saw new Main Street restaurant openings in the fall as well as two art studios (arriving on the heels of the successful El Segundo Art Walk that debuted during the summer) and a professional office building at the former Centinela Medical Center location. Meanwhile by the end of 2015, the City reported it was over 50 percent to its goal of 100 businesses moving to El Segundo by the time of the January 2017 Centennial Celebration. Most Business-Friendly Again In November, the El Segundo came away with its second Eddy Award for Most Business- Friendly City. In the event hosted by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, El Segundo topped the small cities category (under 67,000 residents) to outlast four other finalists. The City was the inaugural winner back in 2006 and then had to wait five years before it could apply again. It was a finalist each of the previous three years before garnering the 2015 Eddy. Raytheon Project Moves Forward Late in the year, the Council gave its blessing to Raytheon Company’s El Segundo South Campus Specific Plan Project, which when built out will be the largest commercial development in town in over a decade with an estimated $2.6 million in new annual tax revenues to the City. The project entails a See El Segundo, page 2 “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language And next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” – (Little Gidding) T.S. Eliot
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