Proposed $16-Million Venice Complex Seen as Both Boon, Burden
One of the largest development projects in recent Venice history--a $16-million retail and condominium complex--has been proposed for a vacant railroad yard at Main Street and Rose Avenue.
Harlan Lee & Associates announced plans for the Venice Renaissance building last week, saying they hope to begin construction within a year. Lee said the proposed four-story complex on the ocean side of Main Street would fulfill a “dramatic need” for upper-middle-class housing near the beach and help foster a revitalization of Venice.
“I believe that people want to play where they live,” said Lee, who lives and works in the Marina Peninsula. “And this is one of the last sites in the community that’s large enough for something really good to happen.”
Lee’s project is generating considerable community interest. Venice Chamber of Commerce President Phil Bubar said the 123,000-square-foot complex could play a pivotal role in boosting the economically depressed area, long associated with bohemians and transients. But a spokesman for a residents group, the Venice Town Council, said the development is too big and contended that it is designed to drive away the poor and elderly in favor of young urban professionals.
‘Totally Opposed’
Arnold Springer, who has met with Lee on the project, said the Town Council is “totally opposed” to the proposal as it now stands. Springer said the council will meet with north Venice residents within two weeks to discuss concerns about parking, traffic and displacement of residents because of expected increases in property values.
“We think it’s not simply a case of gentrification, although that’s obviously a problem,” Springer said. “New people have a right to live here, but not at the expense of the community. When people hear what this is going to signify in the way of traffic and noise, they’re not going to like it.”
The Venice Renaissance development has been planned for nearly two years. Before he can proceed with the project, Lee faces several hearings before the Los Angeles Planning Commission, the city planning committee, the City Council and the state Coastal Commission. Another Venice development project, a smaller retail and condominium complex proposed by developer Thomas Safran, has been stalled for six years by community opposition. However, Lee said he was confident of moving ahead with his project fairly quickly.
A glossy press packet prepared for Lee says the developer has built and sold more than 5,000 houses and has construction projects under way in Marina del Rey’s Silver Strand and Calabasas Park. Lee said the Venice development is patterned after turn-of-the-century architecture and designed to capture the look and feel of the original “Venice of America” community created by founder Abbot Kinney.
Post-Modern Style
Designed by Johannes Van Tilburg & Partners, the building combines classic archways with modern skylights and lofts. Van Tilburg said the building is post-modern style, emphasizing open spaces and windows. The design also calls for a clock tower rising high above the street.
“We feel that Main Street, which starts in Santa Monica, is becoming a very nice street and we wanted to pick up on that character,” Van Tilburg said. “There’s also been an attempt to look carefully at what made old Venice so nice and see if we can recapture it, though not in a Disneyland type of way.”
Lee’s project mixes retail and residential uses. The building would include 33,000 square feet of retail space along a strip facing Main Street. Nine artists’ lofts with two-story windows would occupy the street-front space above the businesses.
The 90,000 square feet of residential space would be contained in three detached structures behind the facade. Lee said the complex would include about 80 residential units averaging about 1,200 square feet each. Five would be low-cost housing reserved for senior citizens. The remainder would sell for $175,000 to $185,000, Lee said, adding that all of the upper units and most of the mid-level units would offer ocean views.
“There’s no question that there’s a dramatic need for housing and for neighborhood-serving commercial uses,” said Lee, who grew up on Breeze Avenue. “We felt that the key was to make this a mixed-use project. The commercial makes the residential pay off.”
Three Developments
Lee also noted that his project is one of three new developments planned for the north Venice area. Developer Al Ehringer is building an office complex on the west side of Main Street between Navy and Marine streets. To the south, the advertising firm of Chiat-Day Inc. plans to construct new corporate headquarters in a building designed by architect Frank Gehry.
Lee contends that the new development activity will set off a chain reaction resulting in a cultural and economic renaissance in Venice. David Grannis, a Venice-area aide to Los Angeles City Council President Pat Russell, said it is too early to comment on the feasibility of Lee’s project. Grannis said Russell favors mixed-use projects in general, but is also committed to preserving the character of the Venice community.
The chamber’s Bubar said the project should be approved because of the need to upgrade the north Venice area. “It’s a very impressive project,” Bubar said. “And nothing of that extent has been tried in this community for quite a while. It could be the start of a new age of development.”
The Town Council’s Springer said his group is resigned to the fact that large-scale developments like Lee’s are part of Venice’s future. But he warned that the council will fight to ensure that developers adhere to community plans.
Objections to Project
Asked about specific objections to Lee’s proposal, Springer said that the complex is higher than Coastal Commission regulations allow and that the building is too large and bulky and fails to provide enough parking and low-cost housing.
“The Town Council is not anti-development,” Springer said. “We helped prepare a specific plan for the city which allows density and height bonuses in return for certain contributions by the developer in the way of social amenities. He can get height bonuses for low-income housing or parking.
“But Lee does not provide any replacement parking and the five units of senior housing he proposes is ludicrous. He needs to provide at least 20 units of low-income and senior housing. . . . And this is what Mrs. Russell (generally) has been on record as supporting.”
Asked about Lee’s contention that Venice is short on housing for professionals, Springer argued that the area has sufficient affordable housing.
“There are a lot of houses for sale in Venice for $140,000 to $150,000,” Springer said. “People don’t have to be stuck in a condominium complex. There’s plenty of housing for yuppies. . . . And we’re not against yuppies. We oppose gentrification because it tends to snowball. It knocks the old, the poor, the artists and the street people out of our community.”
Lee said he would try to satisfy some of the Town Council’s demands, but the developer added that he was confident that the completed project would closely resemble his original proposal. Lee said that he and the Town Council members have the “same common interest” and added that he hopes they can work together on the project.
But Springer, whose group has a successful record of seeing that developments follow community guidelines, said Lee can expect to encounter some tough negotiations in the next few months.
“We have a good record with the city,” Springer said. “We’re recognized not as crazies, but as people who are very knowledgeable of the planning process. In the past our strategy has been to work for compromise. . . . As for this project, we haven’t decided what to do yet.”
