Some 98 surplus lots
The City of Lancaster intends to purchase 98 surplus parcels from the Successor Agency to the former Lancaster Redevelopment Agency for about $2 million. The plan is to explore options to use the parcels for affordable housing and economic development.
The parcels include 86 Herald tract parcels, 10 residentially zoned parcels on sites scattered throughout the city and two parcels in the Fox Field Industrial Corridor, according to a list.
On Feb. 27, the City Council, first acting as the Successor Agency, unanimously adopted a resolution declaring the agency-owner property as “exempt surplus land” and unanimously adopted a subsequent resolution approving the purchase and sale agreement between the agency and the city. The City Council then unanimously approved the purchase and sale agreements for the properties, appropriated money for it and authorized the city manager or his designee to execute all related documents.
The “Herald Tract” parcels came from a subscription promotion for the old Los Angeles Evening Herald. The parcels are in the transit-oriented development zone near the Lancaster Metrolink station and Lancaster Boulevard. In 1910, the newspaper gave away parcels in Lancaster measuring 25 feet by 125 feet with a year-long subscription. Many of the Herald tract lots remained vacant for decades. Because they were so tiny, some were combined to make enough property to build on.
