Cerritos Council Rejects $5.7 Million Deal to Acquire Bloomfield Office Property

September 21, 2026

By Brian Hews

The Cerritos City Council on Monday rejected a proposal to acquire a vacant office complex on Bloomfield Avenue through a $5.7 million credit against future ground-lease payments.

The proposal sought authorization for the city to purchase the property at 16550 Bloomfield Avenue from the Alliance of Schools for Cooperative Insurance Programs.

The site measures approximately 0.8 acre and contains two office buildings totaling about 15,700 square feet with 64 parking spaces. In place of a $5.7 million cash payment, the city would have amended ASCIP’s ground lease at the city-owned property at 12610 Park Plaza Drive to provide a $5.7 million rent credit.

ASCIP previously occupied the Bloomfield buildings before relocating to 12610 Park Plaza Drive in the Cerritos Towne Center. ASCIP occupies the Park Plaza property under a ground lease with the city that extends through March 8, 2087.

Under the proposed transaction, the $5.7 million credit would have satisfied ASCIP’s rent obligations attributable to the existing building area for the remainder of the lease. In return, Cerritos would have taken ownership of the Bloomfield property and could lease the buildings to another tenant, potentially creating a new rental-income stream.

City Manager Robert Lopez introduced the proposal as an economic-development opportunity.

“This is an economic development proposal to add to the City’s existing real estate portfolio,” Lopez said. “There are two existing office buildings on the subject proposed property measuring a total of about just under 16,000 square feet.”

The city had also retained Kosmont Companies, its third-party real estate advisory consultant, to conduct a financial analysis of the proposed transaction. Kosmont estimated the value of the future Park Plaza rent credit at approximately $5.7 million to $6 million and the fair market value of the Bloomfield property at approximately $5.5 million to $5.9 million.

The negotiated $5.7 million price therefore fell within both valuation ranges. According to the agenda report, Kosmont concluded that the structure would allow Cerritos to acquire the Bloomfield property while preserving available financial resources and continuing its long-term ground-lease relationship with ASCIP.

Under the proposal, Cerritos would have essentially exchanged $5.7 million in future Park Plaza rent for ownership of the Bloomfield property, rather than paying $5.7 million in cash. The city would retain ownership of the Park Plaza property while also acquiring the Bloomfield land and buildings, which could then be leased to another tenant.

The report also noted that ASCIP invested approximately $2.1 million in improvements to the city-owned Park Plaza property after relocating there, enhancing an asset that remains owned by Cerritos. ASCIP also paid approximately $485,000 in related permit fees.

No tenant had been identified for the vacant Bloomfield property. However, staff reported that it had begun outreach to businesses needing additional space. The city’s projected rental income from Bloomfield therefore remained prospective, while ASCIP’s Park Plaza ground-lease payments represented an existing revenue stream.

Mayor Pro Tem Mark Pulido recused himself from the item.

Councilmember Jennifer Hong questioned the financial analysis and the decision to acquire a property that had remained vacant for nearly a year.

“Can council see that analysis including the assumptions, projected rent, present value and net financial benefits to the city?” Hong said. “Because we all know that 16550 Bloomfield is currently vacant with no tenants or occupants for almost one year because the tenant has already moved to the 12610 Park Plaza ground lease that runs until March 8, 2087. They already been there for almost one year.”

While Hong questioned whether sufficient financial information had been provided to justify the acquisition, the agenda report summarized Kosmont’s financial analysis and valuation ranges. The underlying analysis, including the assumptions and calculations Hong requested, was not presented in the portion of the agenda report describing the transaction.

Hong also questioned why the property had not been sold earlier and whether acquiring it was appropriate given the city’s experiencing financial challenges.

“We have the budget deficit, so at this time I have not seen sufficient evidence that acquiring this property is the best way to address the city’s current fiscal difficulties,” Hong said.

Councilmember Frank Yokoyama focused on the loss of cash rent under the proposed transaction.

“What this proposed transaction will do is reduce our liquidity, where we would be getting operating revenues in terms of cash rent payments, and we would instead not be getting those cash rent payments,” Yokoyama said.

Staff confirmed that the city would forgo the Park Plaza ground-lease payments covered by the $5.7 million credit.

Yokoyama later outlined scheduled increases in those payments over the coming decades and argued that the city should protect its cash flow while facing budget pressure.

“Right now, we just have to be fiscally responsible, fiscally conservative, and not reduce our cash flow,” he said.

Lopez clarified the structure of the deal late in the discussion.

“We are not exchanging one property for another; that may be a misunderstanding,” Lopez said. “This proposal is to acquire a new property and, instead of paying cash outright, we are basically providing a credit on ground lease payments.”

The debate ultimately centered on two competing approaches to the city’s finances: retaining an existing stream of cash rent. At the same time, Cerritos faces budget pressure, or converting approximately $5.7 million in future rent into another city-owned real estate asset that could generate its own rental income.

A motion to approve the staff recommendation failed on a 2-2 vote, with Pulido recused. The proposed acquisition and related ground-lease amendment were not approved.