Sacred Heart Rebuffed by Neighbors on Condo Deal

Studio City residents refused Tuesday night to endorse a high-density condominium project sought by a religious order for the abandoned Corvallis High School campus.

The homeowners vowed to demand new zoning to limit development to only 30 single-family homes on the Laurel Canyon Boulevard site. They said such a plan would keep traffic from choking nearby residential and business areas.

Glum-faced nuns from Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary listened as 150 residents complained that their neighborhood is already being strangled by traffic.

Appeal by Sister

Sister Joan Treacy, provincial superior of the order, appealed to the residents to endorse zoning to allow the nuns to sell the property for a luxury townhouse project, giving the order a $7-million profit.

“We want justice for us . . . and also justice for the poor we’re serving in other areas,” Treacy said. “We need the revenue to subsidize our present and future ministries.”

Several developers proposed plans for the 3.6-acre school site to the Studio City Residents Assn. Besides the 130-unit condominium project favored by the nuns, rival developers offered plans for a 160-unit retirement home and a 100-unit luxury townhouse project.

Several residents, including actor Ed Begley Jr., said they favor the retirement project because it would generate less traffic than private residences.

At the end of the two-hour meeting, the homeowners overwhelmingly voted to endorse single-family homes on the site. Such residential zoning would allow about 30 homes and yield $2 million profit for the nuns.

The future of the high school site has been a question mark to Studio City residents since the 46-year-old campus of the girls’ school closed nine months ago because of low enrollment.

The community was jarred two weeks ago when residents learned that the nuns were considering using the site as an AIDS hospice or a camp for the homeless if they could not sell it profitably. The sisters’ attorney raised the hospice idea, which the order later dismissed.

“Transitional housing for the homeless would be much more probable than an AIDS hospice,” Treacy had said.

130-Unit Project Preferred

Treacy said her order prefers the 130-unit project proposed by Glenfed Development Corp., an Encino-based firm. Glenfed has offered to buy the site for $7 million, plus half the profit from the sale of finished units.

But a smaller, 104-unit project considered by homeowners would translate to a land-sale price of about $5.6 million for the nuns, according to real-estate experts. The sisters have indicated that they will keep the campus and use it directly for their ministry if that is the best offer they receive.

Existing multiple-family and commercial zoning on the site would allow up to 246 units, making the land worth about $9 million.

The communitywide vote Tuesday night was called after homeowner association leaders met last week and affirmed their intent to press for 104 units.

Earlier, Los Angeles city officials had said they will abide by the community’s wishes when new zoning is determined for the abandoned school.

The city’s Planning Commission is expected to consider permanent zoning for the site April 7.

The campus is south of Ventura Boulevard and steps from the main business district.