City, RBUSD Complete Land Swap

After several years of negotiations, the Redondo Beach City Council and Board of Education completed a land swap Tuesday night that will eventually provide the city with a new police station, which will be built at 200 N. Pacific Coast Hwy.

"This is a very special and historic action that we will take," Mayor Mike Gin said before the swap was approved. "There's a lot of work behind the scenes on both sides to really come to the agreement that we have here tonight, but I really think it speaks volumes about how important this partnership is."

The basic terms of the land swap—which call for the city to take control of the property at 200 N. Pacific Coast Hwy. with a 99-year lease and return the Franklin school site at 801 Inglewood Ave. to the school district, along with a $1 million upfront lease payment—were agreed to during a joint school district-city council meeting a little more than a year ago.

The Redondo Beach Police Department's investigations bureau and the city's Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau are currently housed in the 200 N. Pacific Coast Hwy. property.

The city will also get a 99-year lease for Franklin Park and the ability to construct a parking structure east of the Redondo Union High School auditorium to serve the police station; the school district will get 75 exclusive parking spaces in the new police department's parking structure and 75 shared parking spaces in the structure for RBUSD special events.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify that a new police station will be constructed on the property at 200 N. Pacific Coast Hwy. and to add comment from Mayor Mike Gin.