Business & Tech

Developers Pleased as Banning Moves Forward on Village at Paseo San Gorgonio, Motorsports Dealership

Mark Frost and Arthur Pearlman, partners in developing the Village project, and Marty Coyne of Beaumont Powersports said the Banning council's moves Tuesday night represented significant steps in bringing their projects to completion.

Developers of the Village at Paseo San Gorgonio and a motorsports dealership said they reached significant milestones Tuesday night in their multi-year efforts to bring their projects to Banning.

The Banning City Council, acting jointly as the council and the community redevelopment agency, passed resolutions to approve design review and tentative parcel mapping of the Village at Paseo San Gorgonio project across from City Hall on East Ramsey Street.

The council and redevelopment agency also moved forward with a disposition and development agreement with Banning Ventures, LLC, and its plans for retail sale and dealership of all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, watercraft, parts and accessories, on the All Star Dodge property on West Ramsey Street.

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Mark Frost and Arthur Pearlman, partners in the Village at Paseo San Gorgonio, and Marty Coyne of Beaumont Powersports said the council's moves Tuesday night marked significant steps in bringing their projects to completion.

"Tonight represents the culmination of almost three years of work," Frost said outside council chambers. "As Art has pointed out we've worked monthly with city staff to bring forth the vision the city's always wanted to see across the street. So we feel like we've actually gotten to where everyone would like to be, even before we started.

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"So it's very encouraging that we finally got here," Frost said. "It took a long time."

Frost and Pearlman said they were interested in downtown Banning before they were aware of the state's decision to build the Mid-County Justice Center. The new state superior courthouse is slated to be completed in 2013, a block east the new Banning Police headquarters.

"It starts with a belief in the area, we had to believe in Banning first," Frost said. "And after coming out here and looking into the area for a while we found that this is truly the next place for expansion and development.

"Beaumont's had their day and now it's time for Banning to move forward," Frost said. "And the city had certain ideas that they wanted to see. We certainly knew that tenants had certain requirements. And so we had to meld those two things together, and make a product that worked for everybody."

Pearlman concurred with Frost and also emphasized the long-term planning and commitment it took to reach detailed agreements with the city of Banning and prospective tenants for the Village at Paseo San Gorgonio project.

"The reality is when there's a vision of what we see on a piece of property, the city of Banning had a piece of property that's been around for over a hundred years," Pearlman said. "Our vision is where's it going over the next 10 to 20 years, and longer.

"And you put those two pieces together along with the city ordinances, the city's design perspective, their downtown plan that they had before we came on board," Pearlman said. "And then you look at the details that are required by each of the staff members, each having a different function.

"Our job was to meld all those pieces and parts together with how we see the future tenants and tenancies of the project evolving," Pearlman said.

"We started this project in September of 2008 and we've had monthly meetings with the entire staff every single month all the way through last Thursday, and with that we just define and work and there was a series of work sessions," Pearlman said.

"It's a combination of the city's focus, our focus, their vision, our vision, and the rules and regulations of the city and redevelopment agency in the city of Banning," Pearlman said. "All those parts have to come together. One doesn't just go out and build a building. It doesn't happen that way. We spend a lot of time working with staff to be sure we can get to this point."

The Village at Paseo San Gorgonio will include restaurants, retail, offices and hotel space, Pearlman said.

"We have sit-down restaurants, independent, quick-service retail, which will be smaller informal type of restaurants, a series of retail spaces of all types, all this has to support the city, the courthouse, the government actions and functions that are here," Pearlman said. "We have space for a hotel, and for offices that we expect to be needed to support the government activities and the courthouse when that happens, and those are our series of tenants."

Frost and Pearlman said they were interested in downtown Banning before the state courthouse project was approved.

"I believe it was several months before we were aware of the courthouse coming in," Frost said. "It was a pleasant surprise. But we weren't completely starting with that in mind."

The combination of new government functions and commercial interests will change downtown Banning, Pearlman said.

"There's going to be a transformation of the downtown actions and activities within Banning, and we're a part of it," Pearlman said. "We're not the only part, but a part."

Coyne, of Beaumont Powersports, said he was pleased to reach a significant point in his efforts to expand his business and customer base in Banning.

"We think we're coming out of a tough economy, and now we need more space to grow," Coyne said. "It's taken a couple years to get this far, in a tough economy, many months.

"I really believe the economy as a whole has been a challenge for everybody, as well as our businesses," Coyne said. "And we feel we're at the tail end of it.

"And so now it's to look forward, how do we grow our business back, how do we get new customers in the door," Coyne said. "And the city's looking how do they increase sales tax dollars and get some more jobs in the city.

"We're just anxious and eager like I say to pull out of this tough economy and come into the city of Banning and start a new business," Coyne said. "And we hope we do all the right things, get some new jobs created, get people from other areas to stop in Banning and buy their motorcycle supplies and motorcycles, and the city of Banning will also benefit from that as well."


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