Westwood : Revitalization Effort
Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky has announced the formation of the Westwood Village Management Corp. to oversee revitalization of the village.
The seven-member volunteer board, which will hire an executive director, is fashioned after the management concept that turned around the once-depressed Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.
“The management will strengthen and revitalize Westwood by attracting new business, coordinating development and streetscape plans and improving parking and security,” said Yaroslavsky in a written statement.
Beset by parking problems, intensified competition and bad publicity generated by Friday night rampages by unruly youths, Westwood Village has been in decline as a commercial and entertainment center in recent years.
The management corporation will form an assessment district in which the property owners and businesses will pay for refurbishing the area and will set up a system of validated parking.
The board includes the developer of a proposed hotel for the village, T.C. Wang of Nansay USA; the vice chancellor of UCLA, Peter Blackman; two major village property owners; a restaurant operator; an executive from the Mann Theaters chain, and a member of the Westwood Design Review Board.
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