“We’re looking to find someone to preserve the authenticity of the existing waterfront, who can provide the perfect visitor-serving and resident-serving blend,” Peter Grant, assistant city manager of Redondo Beach, tells GlobeSt.com. “It needs to be a blend of brand names that visitors are comfortable seeing, but also the Quality Seafood and Old Tony’s that give the area its unique charm. One of the concepts we heard from someone was ‘eatertainment.’ It’s set up for a public market, the Southern California version of the Ferry Building, which is perfect because it’s 72 degrees here every day.”

Grant says the City envisions the project to cost a developer roughly $100 million and to include restaurants, shops, open space for concerts and picnicking, as well as a place for people to enjoy watersports, sport fishing and other outdoor activities. “We’d really like to create a sense of place out on our waterfront that embodies a casual and subtle elegance,” Gin sums up.

“It’s long overdue for revitalization and has weathered tough times in the 1980s with fire and storm damage,” says Grant. “We’ve regained leaseholds from four different owners—at one point there were 39 different leaseholds on our waterfront, so development has been difficult.”

The City’s larger waterfront revitalization project has included a $100,000 infrastructure investment in the Pier for tasks such as upgrading railings worn by the elements, modernizing parking structure operations and renovating the structure itself. “What we’re hoping is that there will be more infrastructure improvements through a private investor who would also put forward plans to upgrade some of the amenities on the waterfront,” says Gin. “The basic ones are the ones we’re focusing on right now.”

As GlobeSt.com previously reported, two developers are working together with the City to transform the area, which includes an existing fishing marina, 1,500 boat slips and existing restaurants, into a new shopping and recreation destination. Among the projects is the Shade Hotel, being developed by local businessman Michael Zislis, which was slated for groundbreaking this year, and the Redondo Landing shopping center, which is being redeveloped by Robert Resnick, president of RDR Properties. A later phase includes new streetscape, parks and boating facilities, covering five acres.

While development plans don’t include residential construction, there is much existing residential adjacent to the site west of Harbor drive. Grant does see possibilities for a hospitality use as well as an outdoor amphitheater or park.

With the area’s slow- or no-growth initiative in its charter, Grant says qualified developers will appreciate this level of engagement from the community. “We want to create an opportunity for someone to come tell us what they see happening at the waterfront. As much as we know what we want, it’s more about who we want and how they’re going to work with us and the community to develop a shared vision.”

The city council will begin reviewing the RFQs July 24, after which the next round of the selection process will begin. “Everybody who makes the top qualified group will have a project team and capital in place,” says Grant.

Gin tells GlobeSt.com that he is hoping the conceptual design will be ready for the city council by March 2013.