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Big Box Stores and More Proposed for Downey Studios Site

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Former Boeing/almost-Tesla-manufacturing sites are seeing a lot of action these days. Earlier this week came news of a new master plan for Douglas Park in Long Beach; now it's Downey's turn to bring a former Boeing property into the post-aerospace industry times. The Downey Beat reports that tonight the Downey planning commission will consider the Tierra Luna Marketplace development at the 77 acre home of Downey Studios. The original Tierra Luna plans (with a draft environmental impact report in the bag, no less) tanked in 2009 when the city thought electric car manufacturer Tesla might pick the location for a new manufacturing plant (there were also reportedly financing issues)--that plan included about 450 hotel rooms and about 1,500 residential units. After Tesla chose a Bay Area location instead, Tierra Luna came back around in a very different form. Developer Robert Manarino's new plans call for 1.1 million square feet of retail, 300,000 square feet of office, a movie theater, and 150 hotel rooms.

Under the proposal, Building 1, "where rockets and landing capsules for the Apollo missions were built," will be saved and converted into office and retail space, according to the Downey Patriot. Everything else will be razed. According to the DB, "several of the buildings [are] slated to become medical offices" and Walmart an Lowe's are rumored to be interested in the plan's two big box spaces. The DP has a full list of retail stores that the city pre-approved for the site; they include pretty much every chain store ever, from Claim Jumper to Claire's.
· One giant leap for Downey? Tierra Luna Marketplace plans released [Downey Beat]
· Tierra Luna development will be big on retail, restaurants [Downey Patriot]
· Spurned by Tesla, Downey Runs Back to its Ex-Development [Curbed LA]