Council Puts Plan on Hold to Expand Van Nuys City Hall

Without debate, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday voted to temporarily shelve an ambitious plan to expand the city’s aging municipal buildings at Van Nuys Civic Center with the help of private developers.

Not one developer expressed interest in the city plan, which called for a firm to construct a large city office building on Civic Center property in exchange for the right to build a private office complex on adjacent city land.

A city report stated that the plan fell victim to a faltering real estate market and developer unwillingness to invest in the troubled Van Nuys Boulevard area where high vacancy rates and low rents are typical.

“This project should be placed on hold until market conditions become more favorable,” the report added.

Officials said they will put the project out to bid again when real estate conditions improve, but could not specify a date.

The plan, which was put to bid in June, was considered to be the centerpiece for revitalization of the aging commercial strip. Community leaders have said its failure could slow improvements along the boulevard by discouraging other investors. Plans to expand the Van Nuys City Hall complex have been discussed since the late 1950s.

The city had hoped that the latest plan could have accomplished the expansion at no cost to taxpayers.

The city sought a developer to construct an 85,000-square-foot office building for use by city departments stationed in Van Nuys. The additional space was needed to “alleviate crowded conditions in the existing Van Nuys City Hall, replace inefficient one-story structures . . . and provide for future city space needs,” a 1989 City Administrative Office report said.

In exchange, the developer would have earned the right to build a 380,000-square-foot retail and office space project on city-owned land next to the civic complex. Profits and income from the retail-office complex were to have been the bait to lure developers to build the city office space for free.