TITLE
Recommendation to approve a set of guiding principles for the future development of property surrounding the Queen Mary. (District 2)
DISCUSSION
On December 12, 2006, the City Council approved a request for the City Manager to coordinate a visioning process for the restoration of the Queen Mary and development of its surrounding properties. The City Council also requested an outline of the process for reaching consensus on guiding principles and goals for use of the site.
In October 1989, the City of Long Beach entered into a ground lease with Queens Seaport Development, Inc. (QSDI) for the historic Queen Mary, the water surrounding it within the enrockment consisting of approximately 9.29 acres, the approximately 43.38 acres of land adjacent to the Queen Mary and the improvements in land, including the Dome and Queen's Marketplace, and certain water rights of approximately 11.55 acres adjacent to the Queen Mary and Catalina Channel Express facilities. The ground lease required QSDI to operate the historic Queen Mary as a tourist attraction with hotel and restaurant uses. The ground lease also provided certain financial incentives to encourage development of the property surrounding the Queen Mary.
In February 2005, the City issued a notice of default to QSDI for non-compliance with specific terms of the ground lease. In March 2005, QSDI declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy under federal bankruptcy law. The case is still under bankruptcy protection. In April 2006, the federal bankruptcy judge appointed a Trustee to oversee operations of QSDI. Since that time, the Trustee has made substantial progress in repairing the financial stability of QSDI. In September 2006, the City Council authorized in closed session a Settlement Agreement with the Trustee (on behalf of QSDI) to settle many of the outstanding business issues between the City and QSDI. This Settlement Agreement was approved by the federal bankruptcy court on January 30, 2007, and will help establish...
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