THOUSAND OAKS : Developer to Scale Down Hotel Plan

A Los Angeles developer will present scaled-down plans for a hotel near the Jungleland project to the Thousand Oaks City Council because of problems in finding financial backers.

Lowe Development Corp. has been unable to find the $12 million to $15 million needed to begin construction as scheduled in mid-1992, said Ted McGonagle, Lowe’s project manager for the $65-million development.

Lowe had planned to begin building a 166,500-square-foot project that includes an eight-screen movie theater, restaurants and offices along with the 232-suite hotel near the city’s Jungleland project at Conejo School Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard as early as next year.

The scaled-down version of the project will be presented to the city’s Planning Commission by January or February, McGonagle said. Plans for the hotel will not be included, he said.

Unless financing is secured soon, it is unlikely construction could take place before 1994, he said.

McGonagle blamed problems in the nation’s banking industry on Lowe’s inability to secure financing.

The hotel is the centerpiece of a private development to be constructed on a 23-acre parcel where Thousand Oaks is building a new $63.8-million City Hall and performing arts complex.

An agreement between Lowe and the city of Thousand Oaks had required Lowe to have financing in place by this year.

However, Ed Johnduff, a city administrative services manager overseeing the project, said the city may get rid of Lowe if the developer is unable to get financing. Johnduff said Lowe’s problems in securing financing will not delay the city’s plans to finish building a new City Hall and performing arts complex by the end of 1994.

On Tuesday, the City Council awarded a $1.38-million contract to an Oxnard firm to grade the site and install electrical and telephone cables.