Oct. 22--A 145-room hotel, a redone City Hall, a new library and a cadre of mixed-use projects are the centerpiece of the latest proposal for downtown Salinas.

Late Wednesday, about 80 people showed up at the National Steinbeck Center to hear the presentation by a development group of an updated plan for revitalizing the city's core.

Representing Salinas Renaissance Partners, Barry Long presented an executive summary of the plan, which is intended to serve as a draft blueprint for transforming nearly 27 acres and more than 20 parcels of aging buildings and vacant lots in the city's downtown area into a vibrant attraction for shoppers and visitors.

Small projects at a time

The development group, led by Carmel developer Bob Leidig, signed an agreement with the city last fall to revitalize the downtown area. The group took over the project after the city severed a previous agreement with New York-based Widewaters Group.

Though the plan has been completed, Long concentrated on what he called "catalyst" projects that he said the development group hopes will "free up" other proposed projects and improvements in the downtown area.

He said the development will occur "incrementally" as the more detailed planning and preparation is completed, as the economy improves and as investment funding begins to arrive.

"We look at the vision as really an umbrella over the entire project," Long said. "The development will be a parcel-by-parcel process. There's a lot of work

to be done, but we can start now. We're trying to create a great downtown and we can, but we need to move forward."

However, Long said, the hotel project -- which would be located in the 100 block of Main Street and include a 60,000-square-foot office building and public plaza, as well as retail and restaurant components -- should be ready to go in the next few years.

Other highlights from the overall plan include:

-- A new City Hall with a quad that extends into the current police station site as part of a larger government campus. The police station would be relocated.

-- A five-level parking garage with retail space on an Alisal Street lot across from the post office.

-- A 300-unit housing project and four-level parking garage near the train station.

-- A new multi-story library next to a renovated Armory building that could host youth activities.

-- Streets converted from one-way to two-way and from four lanes to two lanes, with a turning lane in the middle to "calm" traffic.

Financial terms next

Wednesday's presentation was the first by the partnership since May 5, when it presented a preliminary plan to the City Council after a series of public charettes in March to allow residents to weigh in on the process.

Next up, the City Council is tentatively set to review the plan Nov. 17.

City officials and the developers are hoping negotiations on the financial terms of a redevelopment deal will be finished and ready for the council's review.

City slow going

Leidig has expressed concern about delays in the city's review of the partnership's final draft proposal, saying the "city has been dawdling along."

He said the final draft plan was delivered to the city in early August, and city officials just provided a series of comments on the proposal last month. The development agreement called for the final draft plan to be finished this month, he said, but delays forced a one-month extension.

Alan Stumpf, the city's redevelopment director, said a one-month delay involving such complex negotiations is "not unusual."

Jim Johnson can be reached at 753-6753 or jjohnson@montereyherald.com.www.salinasrenaissance.com

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