Council Set to Consider Bids for City Building

• Several Prospective Tenants Interested

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council, in closed session last week, discussed bids by nearly a half dozen individuals or companies which have offered plans to become the tenants of the city-owned building on the corner of Webb Way and Pacific Coast Highway.
The council will take up the matter again, behind closed doors, when it meets next week. Currently, Richard Weintraub, of Weintraub Financial Services; Tony Dorn, of Beitler Commercial Real Estate; David Anawalt, Anawalt Lumber; Mike Tuchman and Marty Olejarczyk for Ace Hardware; and Elizabeth Lamont, of Room at the Beach, have all thrown their hats into the ring.
The building has been vacant since a realty firm left the commercial stand-alone structure at the beginning of this year.
Municipal officials previously turned down a bid by Anawalt to open up a lumber and hardware store in the 4848-square-foot building.
The realty firm was leasing the building for $5.83 square foot which is about $337,000 per year. The city has requested a minimum rental amount of $428,000, which is $7.37 a square foot. Municipal officials indicate they are seeking a 15-20 year partnership.
After Anawalt, the one and only bid at the time, was turned down, and city extended the bid deadline.
Also on the agenda, the council is poised to approve spending nearly a half-million dollars for outside contract planners.
“Sufficient budget authority has been proposed in fiscal year 2009-2010 budget for these agreements in the professional services [account] in the amount of $100,000 and the coastal development services account in the amount of $350,000,” wrote the planning department’s senior administrative analyst Patricia Salazar. “These expenditures will occur during this fiscal year and will not exceed these budgeted amounts.”
The planning department has traditionally retained outside planning consultants to assist with various projects whether processing planning development permits, preparation of California Environmental Quality Act studies or for other environmental assessment reviews.
In the past, Malibu has hired consultants such as VuE Consultants; Kathleen Mallory; Lilley Planning Group; and Cotton, Shires and Associates.
“The consultants are selected based on areas of expertise, availability and qualifications on an as-needed basis. Staff is requesting that the city council authorize the city manager to enter into agreements for planning related services provided that sufficient funds are available in the accounts,” wrote Salazar.
Planning department officials want the city manager’s authorization now to allow “flexibility and efficiency in handling these routine planning contracts.”
The request, if approved by the council, will allow the city manager to disperse budgeted resources in excess of $25,000 to qualified and available planners or firms without having to have city council approval on each contract amount or without having to obtain council’s approval on each modification, according to Salazar.