The CIM projects are part of a $100-million Downtown redevelopment program that includes the city's investment in public parking, wide landscaped sidewalks, public art elements and other improvements designed to help Anaheim become what many cities strive to be today, a 24-hour urban center.

The Hollywood-based developer will build on six parcels on the last seven acres of vacant land in Downtown Anaheim in what the developer says is a mix of residential and commercial uses designed to complement the existing office and recreation facilities there. The work will take places in four phases around the Center Street Promenade in the historic hub of the city.

Shaul Kuba, a founding partner of CIM Group, says the developers projects are designed to build on the public infrastructure provided by the city. The developer is working with the Anaheim Redevelopment Agency in the public-private partnership. The projects are being designed by a group of architects including RTKL, Kanner Architects, 30th Street Architects, RTK and MBH Architects.

The first phase of the CIM Groups developments is a five-story structure with 6,000 sf of ground-floor retail and restaurant space, along with 95 apartments, built over underground parking. It is located along Broadway between Lemon and Clementine streets and is planned to be completed in the summer of 2005. Phase two is scheduled to begin in July and phase three in the fall, with start of the fourth phase to be determined by the completion dates of the others. The retail space will comprise a number of buildings that will range from approximately 7,300 sf to 10,300 sf. The 500 housing units will include a combination of apartments and 129 units of for-sale townhouses and condominiums.

The local project is one of a number of redevelopment efforts under way by CIM Group, which was organized in 1994 to specialize in such developments, including Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade, Old Pasadena, Birch Street in Brea, Hollywood Boulevard and San Jose's Downtown. The company is manager of the $180-million CIM California Urban Real Estate Fund, which was formed in 2001 with investments from the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS).