Downey looks to space for parks plan - DEVELOPMENT: Plans holding the key to city future move from drawing board to completion.

DOWNEY - : Its first park in 35 years, named to honor the city's aeronautics and aerospace legacy and a film studio.

They are also weighing the possibility of converting 80 acres of sound stages to a neighborhood anchored by big-name retailers, green space and office buildings.

Officials here are exploring several plans to revitalize Downey Downey Landing Project

The Downey Landing Project seeks to reuse the area for mixed-use development involving a 34-acre retail center; 30 acres for a Kaiser Permanente hospital and medical building; 78 acres for Downey Studios; the Columbia Memorial Space Science Learning Center; and the 10-acre Discovery Sports Complex park.

The park is slated to open by this summer.

Its borders are Stewart and Gray Road, Bellflower Boulevard, Imperial Highway, Clark Avenue and Lakewood Boulevard.

About $4 million was invested in the park, the city's first in 35 years, said District 2 Councilman Mario Guerra. The Columbia Memorial Space Science Learning Center is scheduled to open by the end of the year. Its estimated cost is $9 million, Livas said.

Formerly NASA's industrial plant, the history of this 160-acre parcel of land dates as far back as 1929. Once the seat of Southern California's aeronautics and aerospace innovation, its chain of ownership is linked, from EMSCO to Security to Vultee to Consolidated to North American Aviation, North American Rockwell to NASA to Boeing/Rockwell/North American, according to city staff reports.

Integrated into its design is a storm-water catch-basin that takes in one foot of rainwater in its eight-acre spread, said Deputy City Manager Gilbert Livas.

In late February, city leaders formally approved its first loan, the Apollo 19A Boilerplate Command Module, from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. It will be displayed as the Learning Center's first Apollo exhibit.

The Kaiser Permanente construction on 30 acres on the southern tip of the project area is scheduled for completion in 2009. Livas estimates that it will bring 3,000 to 4,000 jobs to the city.

From studio to

neighborhood?

There is also another and arguably more ambitious project city leaders are exploring - converting the 80-acre Downey Studios into a mixed-use residential/commercial space that is anything but "typical," Livas said.

Though still in its exploratory stages, the project - at the moment christened "Tierra Luna" - is expected to cost up to $600 million for the studio's owner, Industrial Realty Group . The project design will include greater road access, vertical residential development, green space and a public plaza, and big-name retails to serve as commercial anchors.

Messmer declined to name names, but said that several potential retailers have visited the site.

Demolition and construction will happen in phases within a 30-month period, and is expected to bring an estimated 1,000 construction jobs to the city, Livas said.

"There's going to be a different economic impact," Livas said.

No public funds will be used, Guerra said.

"This developer has a good sense of our local history, working with us and understanding how this will change the city," Guerra said. "We want to be futuristic in development, but at the same time preserve our space legacy and history."

Since the studio began operations five years ago, IRG has been able to book film productions for a string of big-name films - from "Catch Me If You Can," "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," and more recently, "G.I. Joe" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

About $17 million was invested to turn what used to be NASA's site to studio buildings equipped for filming and $7 million in historic preservation, said IRG vice president Tom Messmer.

He said the studios employ 12 individuals and have 15 security guards, but the studio's real economic impact is the business each film or commercial project's production crews brings to Downey's restaurants, hotels and retail stores.

But the studio faces multiple challenges, including keeping fully booked and competing with cities like Vancouver and Albuquerque as alternate filming locations. Until June, its spaces are mostly booked as studios rush to complete projects before a possible actor's strike.

"Thing is, we are binary," Messmer said. "We're empty or full."

For now, Tierra Luna still has numerous steps to take, such as solidifying project details; changing land-use designations; going through a public hearing process; and conducting an environmental impact study, Livas said.

Johnie's future

Johnie's Broiler, the illegally demolished Googie drive-thru, is one step closer to becoming a Bob's Big Boy.

A contract was drawn up last week that would allow the Torrance Bob's Big Boy owner and restaurateur Jim Louder to take over the remains of Johnie's, the remains of which have been untouched since it was bulldozed in January 2007.

The 90,000-square-foot property is owned by Christos Smyrniotis, the former cook of Johnie's founders, Harvey and Minnie Ortner. Johnie's Broiler, 7447 Firestone Blvd., was originally known as Harvey's Broiler and was a popular venue among car enthusiasts.

Chattel Architecture Planning & Preservation Inc. - the architecture firm hired by the city - is also looking into retaining as much of Johnie's original architectural design when it's reincarnated as a Bob's Big Boy, Guerra said.

The contract is "99 percent done," Guerra said.

"It's just waiting to be signed," he said.

samantha.gonzaga@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1284