IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Riverside County will be able to spend up to $10 million in former redevelopment funds to restore a decaying shopping center in Jurupa Valley.
Money for the Mission Plaza project has languished since the state legislature’s decision in 2011 to abolish redevelopment statewide, according to a report in The Press-Enterprise.
County officials signed an agreement with the state last week that frees up the money it will spend to fix Mission Plaza. Past restoration plans have included the demolition of two building’s on the dilapidated plaza’s west end.
The county’s lawsuit with the state addressed a larger issue: whether former redevelopment money could be spent on projects that were in the pipeline when redevelopment was abolished, the report stated.
Riverside County lost a larger bid to recover millions of dollars for projects that its former redevelopment agency approved.
Redevelopment, which the state legislature abolished in an attempt to help balance the state’s budget, was the most common way for cities and counties to remove blight and construct affordable housing. Its elimination, first recommended by Gov. Brown, was met with strong opposition from cities and counties throughout the state.
