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Gaian Mind Youth Center Faces Potential Redevelopment

By Steve Irsay
Staff Writer
When punk rock activist Ben Lawson and his eco-conscious cohorts found a vacant storefront and adjoining rental duplex on Pacific Avenue near Seventh Street to house their Gaian Mind youth collective and community center last year, they thought they really lucked out: affordable property steps from the heart of downtown and the Metro Blue Line.

The problem is, they might have been right.

Earlier this month, Lawson and his neighbors received a letter from the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency soliciting proposals for the future of the block.

The seven-page letter is a very preliminary step toward possible redevelopment of the block, which is bounded by Sixth Street to the south, Pine Avenue to the east, Seventh Street to the north and Pacific Avenue to the west.

It’s also a reminder of how the boundaries of downtown are expanding further north and west. But for Lawson and others at the Gaian Mind, it’s a bit of added pressure to define and sustain the fledgling center on the eve of its one-year anniversary next month.

By law, property owners and business occupants in a redevelopment area are given the first chance to propose projects before outside developers can submit ideas.

In this case, Lawson and other occupants — including several single-family home owners — interested in being part of a possible “development team” must provide the RDA a written report detailing an overall vision for the area, as well as the applicant’s real estate development experience and possible financing sources. The reports are due by April 6.

Lawson said he was worried that the invitation was a formality.

“We are assuming that if we are even hearing about it, it’s not because they are curious what quaint people like us want to do,” he said. “It’s because they want to build something that they already have a plan for.”

Jae Von Klug, the city’s downtown redevelopment project officer, dismissed that notion.
“This is a first step to see whether there is any interest in any projects or not,” she said. “It’s just a possibility.”

Von Klug said interest in the block actually began with property owners themselves, not the RDA. About 18 months ago, one property owner on Pine Avenue and another on Pacific Avenue expressed an interest in selling property to the RDA. She declined to name the owners.
If an owner within a project site is unwilling to sell a particular parcel, however, the RDA has the authority to use eminent domain to seize properties that are deemed blighted or underused.
“It’s probably starting to get to the point of being underutilized,” Von Klug said of the 2.41-acre Pacific Avenue block, which includes several parking lots, one already owned by the RDA.
Lawson, a lanky punk rock musician, co-founded the Gaian Mind a year ago with fellow eco-activist Emily Merrick. What they lacked in financial means and organizational experience, they made up for in admittedly lofty ambitions.

Named for the Greek and Roman goddess “Gaia,” or “Earth Mother,” the center was conceived as a safe-haven for disaffected young people — “at-risk” is a popular tag — enticing them with educational and eco-friendly activities in hopes of fostering “local and global sustainability.”
So far, that mission has manifested itself primarily in Friday night vegan potluck dinners, Saturday afternoon gardening sessions, open mic nights, and classes ranging from crafts to Pilates to conflict resolution.

Other proposed projects include a free school program, food distribution, peer counseling, wilderness training, computer programming and more.

The center’s business plan was based on it being an outlet for UsedCardboardBoxes.com, a Los Angeles-based company that collects and re-sells usable boxes to keep them out of landfills. Lawson is the environmental coordinator for the company.

Lawson admitted that the box business has not been enough to sustain the center, forcing him and other collective members to rely on their own incomes to keep the Gaian Mind afloat.
The center is currently seeking nonprofit status in hopes of tapping into grant funding sources. Until then, the center’s survival will be — as it has been — hand-to-mouth, Lawson said.

“We have been barely scraping it together,” he added.

While the letter from the RDA seems to have given Lawson a greater sense of urgency, the possibility of redevelopment remains a distant one, with any project easily two years away, Von Klug said.
But change is already afoot in the area. Across the street, plans are in the works to convert the Press-Telegram building at Pine Avenue and Sixth Street into lofts.

“We certainly see the boundaries of what is considered the core downtown expanding,” Von Klug said.

In addition to first rights to propose a project, businesses displaced by redevelopment also have first rights to return as tenants to a new project — provided they can afford the market rent and are “consistent with the vision for the area,” Von Klug added.

Regardless of possible redevelopment or relocation, Lawson said he remains committed to the Gaian Mind