CRA/LA, A DESIGNATED LOCAL AUTHORITY (Successor Agency to the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, CA) M E M O R A N D U M 10 DATE: JUNE 21, 2012 AD0000 ROPS #1241, 1256, 1261, 1262 TO: GOVERNING BOARD FROM: CHRISTINE ESSEL, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER STAFF: NICK SAPONARA, ACTING SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO CFO SUBJECT: TRANSFER OF METRO CALL FOR PROJECT GRANTS WITH CRA/LA MATCHING FUNDS. Negotiate and execute agreements and documents to transfer $31,727,884 in awarded Metro Call for Projects grants to the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering, Bureau of Street Services, Department of Transportation, and Department of Cultural Affairs, and to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and negotiate and execute agreements with the City of Los Angeles and Metro to provide required CRA/LA matching funds in the aggregate amount of $13,982,434. DOWNTOWN, EASTSIDE, HOLLYWOOD/CENTRAL AND SOUTH LA REGIONS (SDs 1, 2 and 3; CDs 1, 4, 8, 9, 10, 13 and 14) RECOMMENDATION(S) That the Governing Board, subject to Oversight Board approval, take the following actions: 1. Approve and authorize the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or designee to negotiate and execute an assignment agreement or agreements or similar documents to effectuate the transfer of $30,337,681 in awarded Metro Call for Projects grants from the CRA/LA to the City of Los Angeles including the Bureau of Engineering, Bureau of Street Services, Department of Transportation and Department of Cultural Affairs; 2. Approve and authorize the CEO or designee to negotiate and execute agreements with the City of Los Angeles including the Bureau of Engineering, Bureau of Street Services, Department of Transportation and Department of Cultural Affairs to provide CRA/LA local match funding in the total amount of $13,547,996 for various Metro Call for Projects grants over an approximate six year period, including an estimated $1,779,870 anticipated in January 2013 subject to approval of ROPS 3; and 3. Approve and authorize the CEO or designee to negotiate and execute an assignment agreement and related documents to effectuate the transfer of a 2011 Metro Call for Projects grant award of $1,390,203 for the Stocker/Martin Luther King/Crenshaw Access to the Expo Line Light Rail Station Project to Metro for implementation and to provide CRA/LA local match funding in the amount of $434,438. SUMMARY The Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (Former Agency) aggressively sought out transportation-related grant funds from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and others for streetscape-related improvements and transportation demand management projects to increase the use of public transit and METRO CALL FOR PROJECTS GRANTS WITH CRA/LA MATCHING FUNDS PAGE 2 support alternative mobility methods within underserved CRA/LA Project Areas. Due to the dissolution of the Former Agency and the need to expeditiously wind down activities of the Successor Entity, CRA/LA staff proposes preserving the external resources to the City and County of Los Angeles by assigning the grants within its active portfolio to entities capable of implementing the projects. The recommended actions will allow for the assignment of 19 Metro Call for Projects awarded grants that require CRA/LA matching funds to the City of Los Angeles including the Bureau of Engineering (BOE), Bureau of Street Services (BSS), Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), Department of Transportation (DOT), and to Metro for implementation. Three of the projects are proposed to be assigned to the City of Los Angeles, which will contract with a local non-profit partner for project implementation. The grant-awarded projects, CRA/LA local match and proposed assignee are listed below and further described in Attachment A – Grant Project Summaries. Metro Call for Project Grants with CRA/LA Matching Funds: 1. Alameda Street Downtown LA Goods Movement (BOE) $3,766,750 grant; $3,358,956 CRA/LA match 2. Broadway Historic Theatre District Pedestrian Enhancements (4th to 6th Streets) (BOE) $2,258,050 grant; $282,256 CRA/LA match 3. Cesar Chavez Transit Corridor (BSS) $1,692,000 grant; $200,000 CRA/LA match 4. Downtown Cesar Chavez Median (BSS) $423,506 grant; $156,640 CRA/LA match 5. Eastside Light Rail Pedestrian Linkages, Phase 2 (BSS) $2,149,850 grant; $622,413 CRA/LA match 6. Orange Line Extension – Sherman Way Station Pedestrian Improvements (BSS) $1,093,066 grant; $588,575 CRA/LA match 7. Washington Boulevard Transit Enhancements – Phase 1 (BSS) $1,671,000 grant; $378,000 CRA/LA match 8. Washington Boulevard Transit Enhancements – Phase 2 (BSS) $1,491,633 grant; $803,187 CRA/LA match 9. ExperienceLA Historic Cultural Neighborhood Connections (DCA) $1,108,023 grant; $340,000 CRA/LA match 10. Arts District/Little Tokyo Gold Line Station Linkages (DOT) $1,737,892 grant; $400,329 CRA/LA match 11. Boyle Heights Chavez Ave Streetscape/Pedestrian Improvements (DOT) $2,787,500 grant; $1,742,472 CRA/LA match 12. Expo Line Bike Hubs in South Los Angeles (DOT) $1,801,439 grant; $675,600 CRA/LA match 13. Figueroa Corridor Bike Station and Cycling Enhancements (DOT) $1,104,687 grant; $200,211 CRA/LA match 14. Hollywood Streetscape Improvements: Gower to Western (DOT) $2,222,035 grant; $1,700,357 CRA/LA match 15. Hollywood Integrated Modal Information System (DOT) $1,682,000 grant; $1,026,000 CRA/LA match 16. Central Avenue Historic Corridor Streetscape (City of LA in partnership with a non-profit) METRO CALL FOR PROJECTS GRANTS WITH CRA/LA MATCHING FUNDS PAGE 3 $1,697,250 grant; $467,000 CRA/LA match 17. Hollywood Pedestrian/Transit Crossroads, Phase 1 - (City of LA in partnership with the Hollywood Entertainment BID) $1,032,000 grant, $365,000 CRA/LA match 18. Hollywood Pedestrian/Transit Crossroads Streetscape Improvements, Phase 2 (City of LA in partnership with the Sunset-Vine BID) $619,000 grant; $241,000 CRA/LA match 19. Stocker/MLK/Crenshaw Access to the Expo Light Rail Station (Metro) $1,390,203 grant; $434,438 CRA/LA match CRA/LA was competitively awarded approximately $31.7 million in Metro Call for Projects grants based, in part, on the commitment of matching funds, which in some cases exceeded the minimum match requirements set forth in the Call. The CRA/LA leveraged redevelopment property tax increment along with approximately $2.7 million in City of Los Angeles Proposition C funds as part of the local match commitment. By continuing to fund approximately $14.0 million in prior CRA/LA local match commitments, the taxing entities would be preserving a combined $34.4 million in Metro grant and Proposition C project resources, which represents a 2.5:1 leverage ratio. The 19 grants include 16 streetscape projects, two bike-related projects and one transportation demand management project. The projects represent critical infrastructure investments that will support the expansion of a comprehensive multi-modal transportation network, allowing students, workers, seniors and other transit patrons to more easily navigate throughout the region. An improved transportation system will help address the regional jobs/housing imbalance, reduce congestion, and improve environmental air quality. Furthermore, through the promotion of mobility within the County of Los Angeles, property values and economic activity stand to increase over time, representing an increase in tax revenues to the affected taxing entities. The proposed actions will allow the Successor Entity to conclude project management and grant administration responsibilities for the projects by assigning the grant awards to the City of Los Angeles departments with the capacity and expertise to implement the projects. BOE, BSS, DOT and DCA are committed to assuming and implementing, in some case in partnership with local non-profits, the subject Metro grant funded projects, as indicated in the letters included as Attachments C and D. Additionally, Metro has agreed to assume responsibilities for implementing the Stocker/MLK/Crenshaw project in conjunction with inter-modal transit improvements adjacent to the Crenshaw / Exposition Line transit hub. DISCUSSION & BACKGROUND CRA/LA staff has been in close communication with the grantor, Metro, while a long-term transition strategy was being identified. Metro has expressed a strong interest in seeing the projects completed and supports the City of Los Angeles assuming the grants for which the CRA/LA was previously the sponsoring entity. Assigning the grant awards to the City of Los Angeles along with the required CRA/LA matching funds will preserve critical resources for public infrastructure improvements throughout the City and County of Los Angeles. Status of Grants Awarded grants from the 2007, 2009, and 2011 Metro Calls for Projects are in various stages of implementation. Metro does not execute Letters of Agreement (LOAs) with grantees until the first year of funding, therefore most of the awarded projects requiring CRA/LA matching funds did not have executed grant agreements prior to June 29, 2011 when AB1x-26 became METRO CALL FOR PROJECTS GRANTS WITH CRA/LA MATCHING FUNDS PAGE 4 effective. The dissolution of the Former Agency as a result of AB1x-26, and the severe curtailment on contracting authority, including the ability to execute or amend LOAs with Metro and procure design and construction services, put many of the CRA/LA grant portfolio projects at risk. Specifically, two of the executed grant agreements require the execution of extension amendments due to lapsing funds, but Metro is waiting to execute such extensions until the approval of these actions. It should be noted that the sponsorship of the Cesar Chavez Transit Corridor and the Downtown Cesar Chavez Median projects have previously been transferred to the City of Los Angeles BSS with approval from Metro, and the City executed LOAs with Metro in March 2010 and March 2011, respectively, for these projects.