By Jim Tortolano/Garden Grove Journal
The way has been cleared for three major developments in Garden Grove to proceed.
City officials announced Thursday that the state Department of Finance has given approval for:
• the Great Wolf Lodge water park hotel on Harbor Boulevard, just north of Garden Grove Boulevard;
• the Brookhurst Triangle high-rise development north of Garden Grove Boulevard;
• construction of another hotel on Harbor, just south of the Sheraton.
However, the state did not green-light the “Site C” project on the east side of Harbor, south of the Target department store. That one called for as many as three new hotels as well as 65,000-square feet of retail, restaurants and entertainment uses.
Still, Garden Grove officials said they were pleased.
“We’re breathing a cautious sigh of relief,” said Mayor Bill Dalton. “This is definitely great news for Garden Grove, but there’s still much work and hurdles to face before we can truly celebrate.”
The projects required state approval because redevelopment agencies across California were dissolved this year, and projects already underway could only proceed if the state determined that they were “enforceable obligations.”
“Replacing city development with state-controlled bureaucracy has put major revenue-generating projects in jeopardy,” said City Manager Matt Fertal.
“It’s cost us jobs and programs, but it hasn’t dimmed our goal to make these projects happen for Garden Grove.”
City officials are hoping to eventually reopen the status of Site C with the state.
