Local News in Brief : Office Project ‘Alive’

Stressing that the $170-million Watt office and hotel project is “still very much alive,” the Hawthorne Community Redevelopment Agency has scheduled a public meeting on the 20-acre development at 7 p.m. April 7 at Hawthorne Memorial Center, 3901 W. El Segundo Blvd.

It appeared that the project might be scrapped after two years of planning when Councilwoman Ginny M. Lambert, at the council’s March 14 meeting, said she would not vote for the project, citing its effect on the adjacent Holly Glen residential area. She modified her statement this week to say she would not vote for the project as is but would consider it if modifications were made to allay concerns about its impact on such things as traffic.

Lambert’s vote was crucial because it takes four votes to condemn property needed for the project, and without her vote only three would have been available. Councilman Steve Andersen had disqualified himself from voting because of a conflict of interest.

A few days after Lambert threw the project’s future into doubt, however, Andersen announced that by mid-May he will be able to vote on the project because it will have been a year since he had any contact with a development company that once was involved in the project. Andersen confirmed at Monday’s council meeting that he intends to vote on the project once the one-year period has expired.