Canyon Country · Newhall · Saugus · Valencia · Stevenson Ranch · Castaic · Agua Dulce
Santa Clarita Valley Business Journal Santa Clarita’s Only Business Publication
$4.50 · Volume 8 · Number 6
www.scvbj.com
october 2016
Special Report:
Remaking of a Town
Page 5
Old Town Vision:
Old Town, New Look:
Refocusing a Fading Retail District as Downtown Poised for New Buildings, Arts, Entertainment and Dining Center Renovations to Relvitalize Area By Paul Parcellin SCVBJ Editor
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edevelopment of Old Town Newhall has been a work in progress for almost 20 years, and in recent times efforts to revitalize the downtown area have gained momentum. After having overcome setbacks delivered by both the state government and a nationwide economic recession, downtown Newhall appears poised for sizable steps for- Ground has been broken for the Hotel Luxen near Railroad Avenue and Fifth Street in Downtown ward in the not too distant future. Newhall. Photo by Katharine Lotze. The Newhall redevelopment activities that remove physically and ecoeffort got under way when the Santa Clarita City Council established the nomically blighted conditions that inhibited Newhall Redevelopment Project Area in economic growth in the city. Then in 2005, the city adopted the Old 1997 to revitalize the downtown area, and that was what started the funding mechanism Town Newhall Specific Plan, and that has been the guiding vision and policy document for the revitalization of Old Town Newhall. In 1989, the city established the RedevelSee VISION page 8 opment Agency to undertake redevelopment
By Paul Parcellin SCVBJ Editor
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t was once a lagging downtown with businesses that lost their sparkle, but Old Town Newhall is in the process of making a remarkable transition to a vibrant arts, entertainment and dining district. The plan is to reshape the area and make it more welcoming to pedestrians. With new boutiques, bars, restaurants, as well as live theater venues, the aim is to transform downtown from a place that empties out after dark to a spot where residents and visitors from other communities could congregate – and spend their dollars. Commercial real estate broker Tim Crissman has been involved with Main Street in Old Town Newhall since 1983, when he started with Merrill Lynch Realty. “My very first transaction was selling the building to open Abe’s Pawn Shop, which remains to this day,” he recalled. “In fact, it’s probably the third oldest business on the block.” Since that time, many have come and gone. Some moved on; others remained in Newhall and helped revive the downtown area. Crissman says many of the clients he first worked with in Old Town still own property there, and his firm continues to manage and lease those properties for them. “Over the course of my career, we’ve seen the luster in Old Town Newhall go from the one center of the valley and the beginning of commerce, to a kind of ugly stepchild,” said Crissman. “Nobody
wanted to be here anymore.” “I developed a philosophy back then that I was going to change Newhall one property at a time,” he said. “When I bought my first home up here in 1980, Main Street was San Fernando Road, a major thoroughfare with four lanes. But, we had Santa Clarita National Bank on the block, Magic Ford – the Ford dealership in town started right there on Main Street. We had a consortium of businesses that were birthed here.”
A Long-Time Presence Those that remain include the pawnshop, The Way Station and Newhall Paint. The owners of Newhall Paint sold the business and the building recently, and the new owner is a small paint purveyor who is keeping it the local paint store. Frank Maga, who owns the property where El Trocadero and The Newhall Refinery are located, was somewhat of an Old Town pioneer. He did the renovation on the exterior of that building long before any of the city improvements took place. Since the 1920s, Maga’s family has had a presence in Newhall. Frank’s uncle established Newhall Hardware in 1947 and the family has owned property on Market and Main streets since 1937. Property owners who have seen the Old Town transformation through, although dwindling in number, may reap the rewards for their tenacity. “They are the ones who have kept the fire See NEWHALL page 5