Gateway Plan Sails Through Commission : Development: Supporters say residential project is a big improvement over a massive shopping center and office complex once planned for the site near Marina del Rey.

With unusual speed and harmony, the massive $400-million Channel Gateway residential and office complex near Marina del Rey moved one big step toward construction last week.

The high-rise project won the unanimous blessing of the Los Angeles Planning Commission on Thursday after Venice community leaders and representatives of Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter joined in a chorus of support for the 16-acre development.

Unless the City Council overturns the commission action--which is not considered likely--developer Jerome Snyder and associates will be able to build 512 condominium units in two 16-story towers, 544 apartments in four-story buildings, a 300,000-square-foot office building, and parking for more than 3,460 cars on the Lincoln Boulevard property.

The lone voice of opposition to the project came from Culver City, which recently sparked the ire of Los Angeles officials by approving the Marina Place shopping center, three blocks from Channel Gateway. Threatened with a lawsuit by Los Angeles over the shopping mall, Culver City officials have sought to retaliate by opposing Channel Gateway.

Venice attorney Debra Bowen praised Channel Gateway as a major improvement over a massive shopping center and office complex once planned for the triangular site on the edge of Marina del Rey.

Snyder bought the Channel Gateway property for $45 million last year from a partnership headed by state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Tarzana). The Robbins group had planned to build a massive shopping and commercial center called Admiralty Place but abandoned the plans two years ago when Culver City approved initial zoning for Marina Place. Channel Gateway’s supporters said Snyder’s residential project would generate significantly less traffic than a shopping center, provide affordable housing, and have far less impact on the nearby Oxford Triangle neighborhood.

Galanter, who was ill and did not attend Thursday’s Planning Commission meeting, in an interview praised Channel Gateway as “an enormous improvement over what was contemplated before.”

Galanter attributed the Venice community’s good will toward Channel Gateway to Snyder’s efforts to work with the residents, who traditionally have opposed major developments. She said Snyder took the time to “come up with a project that meets community needs.”

He also took the time to work closely with Galanter, who was elected to the council in 1987 after tapping anti-development sentiment in her Westside council district.

Even before Snyder and his partners purchased the property, he met with Galanter to discuss what it would take to win approval for the development. “I told the councilwoman I didn’t want to get into a major fight,” Snyder said in an interview last month.

Galanter advised him to consult with community groups, provide more affordable housing and reduce the office space to cut down on traffic in the heavily congested Lincoln corridor.

Snyder heeded the advice.

He agreed that 20% of Channel Gateway’s apartments will be affordable to low- and moderate-income households for 40 years. He pledged to establish a $1.25-million trust fund controlled by Galanter for housing and community improvement projects. And he promised that office parking will be made available to beach-goers on weekends.

“When the property was brought to us,” Snyder said, “it was going to be a shopping center.” After he agreed to build a largely residential project with some affordable units, Snyder said the community “pretty much saw us as a white knight.”

The only bumps in an otherwise smooth road to Planning Commission approval came when commissioners voted to require Snyder to establish an effective program of car-pooling and transit use by office workers. Only after the program is shown to be successful will he be allowed to rent the final 15% of the planned office space. The commission also voted to limit the amount of restaurant space.

The city Planning Department had recommended reducing the size of the office building by 15% to ease the office tower’s impact on Lincoln Boulevard.

But Snyder and Galanter opposed the recommendation, and it was rejected. So was a recommendation that the number of affordable apartment units be increased.

An environmental impact report on Channel Gateway predicted that the project would generate 8,500 daily vehicle trips, but that the added traffic could be offset by computer-controlled traffic signals and the widening of Lincoln Boulevard.

The environmental report identified more than 80 developments within a 2.5-mile radius of Channel Gateway, including the Marina Place mall, the massive Playa Vista project between Marina del Rey and the Westchester Bluffs, and a major business center on the north side of Los Angeles International Airport. The report predicts gridlock on the area’s road system if the massive amount of proposed development is actually built.

Channel Gateway is the latest in a series of large-scale projects by Snyder. He is building the $400-million Water Garden office project in Santa Monica. He has developed the $250-million Wilshire Courtyard office complex near the Los Angeles County Art Museum, and he converted the high-rise Marina City Club in Marina del Rey from apartments to condominiums.