The Future of the El Cajon Redevelopment Agency The future of redevelopment in El Cajon is best expressed by the growing interest in the downtown. With the exception of special projects in the industrial area or near the trolley in the form of Transit First development, the Agency will focus on the continued revitalization of the center city, the downtown core. Great strides have been made in the past five years to improve the conditions of downtown. A property based improvement district was formed in 1996 supported by the special assessment of property owners. The revitalization efforts of the District initially focused on “clean and save” issues by providing regular security patrol and litter abatement. However, after five years of establishing the downtown as a center of arts and entertainment for the East County, the District was re-certified for an additional five years, expanded the boundaries, reorganized as a community development corporation, became a National Main Street organization and created several highly successful special events such as the weekly Classic Car Show, Concerts On The Green and a Farmer’s Market. For more information on the El Cajon Community Development Corporation log on to www.downtownelcajon.com, or call (619) 401-8858. The El Cajon City Council and Redevelopment Agency are fully supportive of the CDC and the efforts to revitalize the downtown and cooperate on public improvement projects and the sponsorship of CDC events. Beginning in June of 2002, construction will begin on the Southwest Corner Project. This project was more fully discussed above but cannot be overlooked in the impact it will have on the downtown. Equally as important will be the project at Park Avenue and Ballantyne Street. While this project is just in the planning stages, the Agency has entered into an Exclusive Right to Negotiate with Priest Development Corporation for the construction of 103 single-family town homes. The infusion of these families to the downtown will aid in the creation of a village atmosphere through quality design and development amenities within the central core of downtown.