Protests May Be the Least of Mall Plan’s Problems

Back in January, some Encino homeowners were startled to learn that a six-level, 1,200-foot-long shopping mall was going to be built in their neighborhood at the northeast corner of Ventura Boulevard and Hayvenhurst Avenue.

Zoning restrictions in the area limit building heights to 45 feet--or about 3 stories--which ordinarily would prohibit a mall of this size.

But the property’s developer, Yehuda Naftali, president of Don Construction Corp. in Beverly Hills, had a plan to get around the rules. He would construct two-thirds of the structure underground--one level of stores and three levels of parking. In all, it is an estimated $100-million project.

Residents along Moorpark Street--which runs behind the site--panicked at the prospect of thousands of shoppers and their cars clogging the neighborhood. They formed a homeowners association to deal with the crisis.

Some Problems

It turns out that they may have gotten all worked up over nothing. Naftali is running into several problems that have pushed the project back for at least a year and possibly forever.

“It isn’t a firm go-ahead project at this moment,” said Chris Cedergreen, the mall’s architect. “It is speculative at this point.”

The project, known as the Ventura & Hayvenhurst Retail Center, covers the site of the former Terry York Chevrolet dealership and a Mobil Oil gas station.

So far, Naftali and a group of investors--known collectively as Ventura Encino Ltd.--have spent about $2 million, most of it to pay the owners of the property, including York. The sale has not completed escrow, however.

Meanwhile, Cedergreen, a Los Angeles architect with Kober, Cedergreen Rippon, was hired to design the mall.

But there are several obstacles to overcome before any concrete is poured.

Soil Contamination

Soil samples indicate that the gas station contaminated the lot with petrochemicals, and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board says nothing can be built there until it is free of contamination. Mobil has agreed to clean up the site, but nobody knows how long that will take. “I know these things are drawn out,” said Jim Carbonetti, a Mobil spokesman.

Zoning hearings promise more delays. Naftali said it will probably be at least a year before the project makes its way through the different committees.

In the meantime, Naftali has decided to rent the property back to York, who temporarily will move his Rolls-Royce dealership to the site. “Rather than have the lot sit empty, he is going to rent it back from us,” said Naftali, who has built several buildings in the West Hollywood area.

Then there is a possible problem from Mother Nature.

Cedergreen’s plans call for a 30-foot-deep parking garage and one story of shopping underground.

“If they’re going to go down, they are going to hit water,” said Michael Gilbert, an Encino real estate developer with Sam Gilbert & Associates. When Gilbert’s company built the Safra Bank building next to the proposed mall, water was found only 7 feet below the surface.

“We’ve done soil tests, and that’s not consistent with what our tests have shown us,” Naftali insisted.

Other Attempts

Several other people have tried to develop the site without success.

Last year, Jay Hofstadter, a Studio City developer, took an option on the site and planned to build an upscale shopping mall--”something between a Rodeo Drive collection and a Beverly Center.”

What stopped him?

Something called a trip tax, which is a fee developers pay for roads and other improvements to accommodate the increased traffic a mall generates. Hofstadter was asked to pay $6.5 million; he considered it excessive. “New developers will face the same thing,” he said.

Cedergreen has come up with several designs for the proposed mall--it has been changed to appease neighborhood groups. The present design is one long building, with plenty of skylights.

“This is very preliminary,” said Cedergreen, who helped coordinate the renovation of the Northridge Fashion Mall. Cedergreen and Naftali said the project will take at least 2 1/2 years to complete.

What are the chances that the mall will ever be built?

Naftali says 8 1/2 out of 10. “There are a lot of difficulties along the way, but we think we can overcome them.”