OXNARD : Pact Imminent on Movie Complex

The city of Oxnard plans to sign an agreement with a developer in an effort to build a downtown movie theater and entertainment complex, seen by many as the best hope to revitalize the city’s flagging retail core.

The City Council on Tuesday approved a 90-day exclusive negotiation agreement with MDA Investment Partnership of El Segundo that calls for the company to seek tenants for the proposed complex.

If successful, a subsequent agreement would allow the company to design and build an entertainment complex on city-owned land at 5th and B streets and on both sides of B Street south of 3rd Street.

“We feel a theater would jump-start the entire downtown, and that’s why we’re making it one of our priorities,” Associate Planner Alejandro Herrera said before the meeting.

MDA has experience developing similar projects. The company has an 80,000-square-foot multiplex under construction in Norwalk. Slated to open in February, the 20-screen complex is being built on municipal land, which the company will lease from the city of Norwalk.

It’s the second time within the last two years that Oxnard has signed such an agreement with a developer in an attempt to lure movie theaters downtown, municipal officials said. The first agreement, with a different developer, lapsed with no action.