Avion Burbank project up for public review
The public will have until near the end of the month to submit comments about a proposed 60-acre mixed-use project next to Hollywood Burbank Airport.
The draft environmental impact report for the Avion Burbank project was released on Aug. 15 and is currently undergoing a 45-day review process, in which the public will have until Sept. 28 to let city officials know of any issues or concerns they have with the proposed project.
Officials from Overton Moore Properties, the project’s developer, said they envision Avion to be a media-, aerospace- and technology-focused hub for Burbank, similar to what can be found in Silicon Valley and El Segundo.
“We’re really trying to create a unique environment here,” said Timur Tecimer, chief executive of Overton Moore, on Tuesday. “We can provide and create on-site amenities where companies can recruit and retain a highly trained and educated workforce, and really go after companies in media, technology, aerospace and e-commerce.”
Overton Moore purchased the 60-acre plot, which is located on an area known as the “B6 site” at the airport, from the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, the airfield’s owner, for $72.5 million in November 2015.
It’s on a portion of this same site where airport officials plan to build a 14-gate replacement terminal. Money from the sale of 60 acres to Overton Moore is slated to partially fund the terminal’s construction.
One of the main focal points of the large-scale project would be six, two-story warehouses for light-industrial use. Combined, the buildings would have more than 1 million square feet.
The “creative warehouses,” which is what Tecimer calls them, are being designed in a way where companies can choose to have open workspaces that have natural lighting.
“We’re trying to create a collaborative workspace experience, but combining it with state-of-the-art industrial attributes,” Tecimer said. “We think that that will be very well received in the marketplace.”
In addition to the warehouses, the campus is planned to have nine, two-story office buildings, totaling 142,250 square feet. Tecimer said those buildings will be office condominiums, in which entrepreneurs and companies can opt to purchase and own the properties instead of leasing them.
Also planned is a six-story, 166-room hotel, as well as two, one-story buildings totaling 15,475 square feet of retail and restaurant use.
“It’s very important for us to design something that’s acceptable to the market, have something we can finance and have something that will be most successful,” Tecimer said. “What we don’t want to do is design products or put products on the site that are bad for us but also bad for the surrounding developments.”
The draft environmental impact report assesses several issues and the possible impacts Avion will have on the area.
There were two issues that arose from the report that could not be mitigated, and those were negative impacts on air quality and traffic.
Tecimer said there are portions of the project that address mobility, such as creating biking and walking paths throughout the campus. Additionally, Overton Moore plans have installed 60 electric-vehicle chargers the day the project opens, and ultimately have about 145 chargers.
He added that Avion tenants will be encouraged to use alternative modes of transportation, such as the Metrolink stations located north and south of the site.
“We’re trying to create mobility to alleviate those type of concerns,” Tecimer said.
anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
