OXNARD : Foreclosure Proceeds Against Town Center

The Oxnard City Council has approved plans to continue with foreclosure proceedings against the developers of the financially ailing Oxnard Town Center, adding $869,000 to the $7.7 million the city is already seeking.

The $500-million, 265-acre project--located east of the Santa Clara River and north of the Ventura Freeway--was expected to be the largest office center in Ventura County when it was proposed in the mid-1980s.

But the developer, the Solvang-based Oxnard Town Center Inc., fell into financial hardship and stopped making payments on a $14.8-million bond the city had issued to pay for the project’s streets and sewers in 1991.

Only one office tower and a few small buildings were constructed.

Because Oxnard Town Center Inc. has folded, the city has had a tough time collecting the delinquent payments. The judicial foreclosure case is pending in Ventura County Superior Court. The developer would have had to pay the city the $869,000 next Monday.