Malls, Offices, Aquarium Proposed : Field Narrows for Burbank Project

Four companies, including one with plans for dolphin shows, have advanced to a second round in the selection of a developer for 41 acres in downtown Burbank, city officials announced Friday.

The firms, which will be asked to submit detailed proposals and $15,000 deposits by the end of November, are:

Triple Five Development Enterprises, a company in Edmonton, Canada, which proposed a retail-entertainment area with an aquarium, dolphin arena, miniature golf course and day-care center.

The Alexander Haagen Co., one of the largest developers of retail malls in Southern California, which proposed a retail and office project.

PS Development Co., which proposed a 1.2-million-square-foot commercial office park and 247,000-square-foot shopping center.

The Price Club and Kornwasser and Friedman Shopping Center Properties, which proposed a retail and entertainment complex.

The council is expected to make a decision in January.

Haagen Praised

City Manager Bud Ovrom said the Triple Five proposal was a “megaproject” that should be explored. He said Alexander Haagen was the best-qualified to bring major department stores to the city.

Nine companies initially made proposals. The only one that offered a specific amount to buy the land was not among the finalists.

A partnership of Kumagai Gumi Land California, the Christiansen-Geiger development firm and Fullerton-based Dicker Wormington Properties offered to pay up to $100 million for the property and to build a retail, office and entertainment area, along with 500 hotel rooms.

Stephen J. Geiger, representing the partnership, said the project would constitute a true downtown Burbank and would be connected with the Burbank Airport by an overhead rail line.

Skepticism Stressed

In a memo to the council, Ovrom expressed doubts.

“More than most cities, we now know too clearly the difference between promises and results,” he wrote. “One cannot help but have a healthy amount of skepticism for any project so grandiose.”

A previously designated developer, Walt Disney Co., had offered Burbank $1 million for the property and said that it would build a $611-million retail and entertainment center to be called the Disney-MGM Studio Backlot. The company withdrew the plans when the project became too expensive.

Also rejected in the selection process was a complex proposed by Watt Commercial Development of Santa Monica and Cusumano Development Co. of Burbank. It would have had 1 million square feet of office space, a 250-room hotel and a shopping center.

The staff also turned thumbs down on a project by the Standard Management Co., a combination of shops, offices and apartments. City Councilwoman Mary Lou Howard had said she did not want to put housing on the property.