Has the Orange County Fairgrounds Been Sold?
On January 14, 2010, the State of California held an auction to sell the Orange County Fairgrounds.
The highest bid was $56.5 million from the Craig Realty Croup. The President and CEO, Steven Craig, is a resident of Newport Coast.
His company has developed several outlet malls, including The Citadel in Los Angeles.
During Craig’s meeting with Costa Mesa City Council this week, he said that he and the City of Costa Mesa share the same vision for the 150 acre Orange County Fairgrounds. While saying that he intends to improve the Orange County Fairgrounds, he did not give details on these improvements.
The State of California may choose to reject this bid and not sell. So, no the Fairgrounds hasn’t been sold yet, but since the bid has not yet been rejected, it still may be sold.
The State had anticipated the Orange County Fairgrounds to be valued between $96 and $180 million. Obviously, this bid falls far short of even the low end of the anticipated value.
Costa Mesa Council Woman, Katrina Foley, traveled to Sacramento this week to testify in favor of Assembly Bill 1590 which is intended to prevent the sale.
In a further attempt to control the destiny of the Fairgrounds, the City of Costa Mesa intends to place the issue of the Fairgrounds’ land use on the June ballot.
California faces a $20 billion dollar budget gap. If the sale of the Fairgrounds were made at the current bid, it only closes a very small percentage of the deficit.
How will this turn out? No one seems certain. The only thing that seems certain, is that there are many outstanding questions.
Would Orange County and Costa Mesa residents prefer to have additional shopping instead of the Fairgrounds?
Would Craig find a way to keep the Fairgrounds most intact and make it more profitable?
Where else would Orange County residents find the types of things they do at the Fairgrounds?
Curious about what the Orange County Fair is like? See The Orange County Fair through the Eyes of a 4 Year Old.
What do you think the State should do with the Orange County Fairgrounds? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
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About the author: Christine Donovan is a California Residential Real Estate Broker with experience in assisting clients buy and sell residential real estate.
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