Culver City : Mall Project Progresses

A court has denied an appeal by the city of Los Angeles to block construction of the $169 million Marina Place project.

Another lawsuit, filed by a residents group called the Coastal Area Support Team, has not yet received a hearing date.

Plans for the regional mall have been on hold for two years while the two cases made their way through the legal system.

The 18.3-acre site, on Washington Boulevard just east of Lincoln Boulevard, would house about 150 shops arranged in a semicircle around an atrium. Nordstrom and Bullock’s department stores would anchor the Mediterranean-style complex. A movie theater complex, restaurants and parking for 4,640 cars in a six-level garage are also planned.

The city of Los Angeles, which surrounds the site on three sides, argued in its appeal that Culver City did not adequately consider the mall’s impact on traffic and air quality in its environmental report.

However, the four-judge Court of Appeal ruled that the report was adequate. The Venice Town Council, a community group, had joined the city in the case.

The suit by the residents group contends that Culver City failed to address the impact of mall traffic on public access to the beach, and the city failed to give adequate public notice on the project.

The mall is expected to generate as much as $16 million in revenues for Culver City over a 10-year period. The city approved the development agreement with Prudential Insurance Co. of America and Melvin Simon & Associates in 1990.