Florida company takes over Pacific City

A new developer has taken over Pacific City, the long-delayed project that seeks to bring a hotel, condominiums and businesses to an approximately 30-acre parcel near by downtown Huntington Beach.

Crescent Heights, a Florida-based company that has overseen residences, hotels, office space and rental properties nationwide, took the helm of the project about three months ago from San Francisco-based Farallon Capital Management, according to spokesman Steve Afriat.

Afriat said Crescent Heights, one of the partners in an entity called 21002 HB, LLC, is running numbers on the project and determining if it wants to make changes to the original proposal. Pacific City, which would be bordered by Pacific Coast Highway, Atlanta Avenue, Huntington and First streets, was approved by the City Council in 2004.

"They want to do something that has a lot of similarity to what's been entitled and proposed, but they may not do the exact project," Afriat said.

The company is waiting to find if it will need additional city approvals for the project, he said. Once all the hurdles are cleared, the developer plans to move quickly to start construction.

"It's a big piece of property to carry on your books," Afriat said.

So far, according to city spokeswoman Laurie Frymire, no work has been done on the Pacific City site beyond some work on an underground parking facility.

In June 2010, the website Surf City Voice reported that Pacific City's original developer, Makar Properties, had passed the project to Farallon.

A spokeswoman for Farallon declined comment this week on the transaction with Crescent Heights.

michael.miller@latimes.com

Twitter: @MichaelMillerHB