Brand-new boat service center, yacht club, West Marine store and restaurant also part of 13-acre plan
By Gary Walker
A rendering depicts a seaside Trader Joe’s in Marina del Rey
Plans to demolish Marina del Rey’s existing Pier 44 boat service center and build a 13-acre waterfront retail-and-recreation complex moved one step closer to becoming reality during a county hearing last week.
On Admiralty Way between Bali and Mindanao ways, Pier 44 currently includes harbor boat slips and boat sales, maintenance and dry dock storage facilities.
Project developer Pacific Marina Ventures LLC envisions seven new buildings on the site, including a waterside Trader Joe’s specialty grocery store, a new location for the West Marine boating supplies store, an 8,000-square-foot restaurant space, a new home and dry dock storage for the South Coast Corinthian Yacht Club, a boaters’ lounge with restrooms and showers, a boat repair shop, boat sales offices and a room for hosting community meetings — all linked together by a pedestrian promenade.
Aaron Clark, the land-use consultant representing Pacific Marina Ventures, said county planners are now developing their final environmental review of the proposal, with its planned 4.68 acres of waterfront development having already cleared the California Coastal Commission approvals process.
While waterfront restaurants are commonplace in the marina, a seaside grocery store certainly isn’t. But Clark said being on the water would be among the new Trader Joe’s most attractive features, especially for recreational boaters.
“Folks will be able to pull their boats up to the dock or come by water taxi and shop if they like,” said Clark, who works for the Brentwood law firm Armbruster, Goldsmith & Delvac.
Pacific Marina Ventures, he said, will begin soliciting additional retail and restaurant tenants after the project is approved.
“We’re looking for a high-quality restaurant to go in there. We imagine that the market will be anxious to fill the space,” Clark said.
South Coast Corinthian Yacht Club Commodore Trevor Bazeley said the organization’s board has been in talks with the developer about construction of a two-story building that will house a kitchen, dining area and bar as well as boat storage for club members.
“We’ve seen the drawings for the new facility, and now we’re just waiting for the next steps,” Bazeley said.
Jon Nahhas, a vocal critic of county redevelopment plans for Marina del Rey, distributed a set of talking points before the March 4 hearing at the Marina del Rey Hotel that argued the project would bottle up traffic at Mindanao — a vital public thruway into the marina — and hinder community access to nearby Burton Chase Park.
Clark acknowledged that there would likely be traffic delays and congestion during construction but said the developers will pay $2.3 million in county traffic mitigation fees.
“That is the highest fee for any developer in Marina del Rey to date,” Clark said. “I’m not saying that it will be a panacea for traffic in Marina del Rey, but it is a great expense by the developer to help mitigate local and regional traffic. There will be careful attention paid to traffic mitigation.”
Beth Holden-Garland, a resident of the marina’s Silver Strand, said she believes there’s already too much development occurring all at once in the harbor.
“I’ve been to so many of these meetings, and it seems to me like no matter what we say it will have no impact on our elected officials. Our collective concern is about the trees in the [Marina del Rey] area marked for removal and how they are an important habitat for birds in the area — including the great blue heron, egrets and black crowned night herons, among others,” Holden-Garland said. “Also, there are [already] two Ralphs, a Gelson’s and a Pavilions in Marina del Rey. Do we really need a Trader Joe’s?”
The plans must still pass through the county’s Regional Planning Commission, but Clark said the L.A. County Board of Supervisors won’t be required to review them unless there are appeals to the environmental review process.
gary@argonautnews.com
Dinghy access to a restaurant? More car trips to another set of stores on Admiralty? Loss of views to the water and the boats in favor of “View Corridors” that are visible for split second while on a moving road. (Maybe a full second or two while in traffic)
The new boat lift will be for very light sail boats only. The marina boating community will lose a boat yard. And medium sized lift. The county and this lease holder will gain revenue. A few working me will get construction jobs. Some more folks will have jobs in the shops. But why not make those jobs in the shops and stores at the FISHERMANS VILLAGE where the lease holder wants to renovate!?!?
Never mind… government always knows best right?
There’s too much development happening right now. What about just finishing Fishing Village before starting new projects. The major project on Via Marina should be completed as well & the residents given a chance to adapt to these major projects.
While I would dearly love to have a TJ’s closer, this location is just awful. Before it is approved let’s hear what that 2.3 million dollar traffic mitigation fee is going to be used for. Is it going to new roads? Because 2.3 is a drop in the bucket for any road project.
I am all for it! As a local and a boater, Pier 44 is old and outdated. As a boater having guest slips and access via boat to Trader Joes, the marine store and new restaurants is much needed and overdue. Can’t wait!
Now, all of the folks in the Marina that previously had no need to drive down Via Marina, will…
Uggh! The traffic is out of control on Washington and Lincoln; now Via Marina will be a problem too.
It’s another welcomed improvement to the Marina that is 30 years outdated. Anything that brings people to the waters edge to enjoy the boats and views of water activities has my vote. The harbor will not be reborn without having a revitalized and continuous vision that surrounds the entire edge. A few new developments are not enough. We need the whole vision completed including Fisherman’s Village.
let me guess…you golf on the weekends with the developers right? you certainly sound like it. yeah improvements are necessary, moving foreward is inevitable. and should be embraced when done with intelligence and consideration. thats just the problem…no one seems to give a rats ass anymore….the new creedo has become….full speed ahead and screw everyone else so long as my pockets become full o’ cash…
What happens to the bike path that runs though there?
I’m north of Venice and I would bike down there for shopping at TJ’s. It takes me far longer to drive to any businesses in that area. Sometimes I do drive to the Westchester TJ’s, so this would actually remove a car trip up and down Lincoln.
Your comments remind me that Fisherman’s Village would be the ideal location for all of this redevelopment. It is embarrassing that the Marina does not have a destination village like other Marinas, Long Beach for example. Put Trader Joe’s in Fisherman’s Village and the traffic would go down that street instead of being stuck on the Corner of Admiraly and Bali…
Ngggggttttttttttttttttttvvvvvvvtvvvvcvc(cnyone even thought how little this will contribute to the boating community. This all goes back to Burton Chaces vision,the marina being built for the enjoyment of all the working men and women. How is it that public money pays for the marina.yet private interests seem to make huge profits from pvv ublic land leased to them,with little benefit being derived by the people who actually pay for this infrastructure. In fact, seems to be that if you actually want to use the facilities as imagined,you are hounded and berated. Now the little Hitlers who run the docks actually have to work. Imagine buying a home and then being told you can only be in it a certain amount of hours,i know that we pay property taxes on our vessels. Anyway,Fishermans Village is far more suuited,its owner is open and willing to develop it,he has stated so at many meetings,the infrastructure is already there,the view is far superior,etc, sorry i digress. That doesnt make the right people richer!! Its apparent that government in MDR is a corrupted version of the real vision,it is government by the powerful,for the benefit of said people,at the expense of the taxpayer who always loses. Im just sayin …….
I like Trader Joe’s but I live in the Marina and my Mom and I don’t like the traffic as it is. What changes are being made to take care of the traffic? (Declan Forest, age 10)
This is a corrupt land grab plain and simple. Demolishing the oldest yacht club in the marina’s building, for a waterside trader joes? What a joke. And it is, as Trader Joes has not committed to the parcel any way. The traffic will be somthing to avoid as it already is times 10.
This developer and his cronies are taking public land, and calling retail space recreation. With his billions he may see this as recreation but no one else will. Just another crappy strip mall with bad traffic.
I think the Fed ought to come in and ask for its money back. Its just a blatant poor use of the space.
It’s true. Even though it would be great to have a nearby Trader Joe’s It’s just a little to much development going on at once. Hardly any boat coming in, and it’s effecting Brokers with their way of living because no slip availability.
So many damn whiners! I welcome ALL changes to this delapitated shitty marina. If you rather look at old cumbly buildings youre probably old and crumbly yourself.