Opportunity Green Reports on CRA/LA’s Progress with the Cleantech LA Initiative

Posted on 20. Aug, 2009 by Ben Upham in Clean Tech

Opportunity Green checked in this week with the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) to learn what progress the collaborative organization has made in their initiative to attract clean technology companies, large and small, to the Los Angeles area. As it turns out, there was both good and bad news.

Announced in April to much fanfare (see Opportunity Green’s coverage), Cleantech LA is a multi-agency collaboration between the Mayor’s Office, CRA/LA and numerous local institutions, including UCLA, Caltech, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to establish LA as the global leader in clean technology development.

One of CRA/LA’s key roles in all of this is the identification and redevelopment of cleantech opportunity sites around Los Angeles focusing on the “Cleantech Corridor” in downtown LA, but also including other industrial zones throughout the city. The centerpiece of this initiative is 20 acres of land at the corner of Sante Fe Avenue and Washington Boulevard, just southeast of downtown, which CRA/LA purchased last year.

So here’s the good news: according to Alexandra Paxton and Jenna Gulager of CRA/LA, the MTA is in negotiations with Ansaldo Breda, an Italian manufacturer of railway cars, to renew their contract to supply the MTA with light rail cars. If the contract is renewed, Ansaldo Breda said it would build a $70 million factory to produce the cars on the 20 acre site – a promising start to the nascent “Cleantech Corridor”.

The MTA board is due to vote again on the proposal in September. The decision was delayed three times because of the MTA’s concerns over the quality of Ansaldo Breda’s product, and other issues. But if the deal goes through, expect a major announcement from Cleantech LA.

Other industries that have already expressed interest in the site include electric vehicle manufacturers, solar manufacturers, clean water technology, and green construction.

As for the bad news, Alex and Jenna reported that, because of California’s budget woes, CRA/LA is taking a $100 million blow to its redevelopment budget over the next two fiscal years. In the last couple of weeks, the CRA/LA has had to scramble to re-orient its goals due to the cuts.

Still, the cuts should not have too terrible an impact on the cleantech initiative, in part because it is still in its early stages, with a lot of the work of coordinating all the organizations involved, and identifying sites still to be done.

And regardless of budget challenges, Alex and Jenna have an open door policy for entrepreneurs, green or otherwise, looking for space to grow in Los Angeles, and help negotiating city government. You can reach them at: (213) 977-1600, or apaxton@cra.lacity.org / jgulager@cra.lacity.org .

Tags: Alexandra Paxton, Ansaldo Breda, Caltech, Clean Tech, Cleantech Corridor, Community Redevelopment Agency, CRA/LA, Jenna Gulager, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, light rail cars, Los Angeles, MTA, Opportunity Green, UCLA