CALABASAS : Project Talks Not Stalled, Official Says

A Calabasas city official who is negotiating with the developer of the proposed Calabasas Park Centre said he has not given up hope that the city will reach a compromise with the developer to reduce the size of the controversial project.

Councilman Marvin Lopata also disputed published reports that talks have broken down between the city and Kilroy Industries. The two sides on Wednesday held an “amiable meeting” to discuss the project, Lopata said.

The City Council is scheduled to vote on the project Dec. 7. Council members, who originally were scheduled to vote on the project in August, postponed the matter after all five members told the developer they would reject the project unless it was scaled down.

The city then formed a committee to work with Kilroy on a compromise to reduce the project’s size. Lopata represents the council on the committee.

Kilroy Industries received approval from Los Angeles County, before Calabasas incorporated, for a 1.5-million-square-foot office and retail center at the corner of Calabasas Road and Parkway Calabasas. As approved, the project includes a 50,000-square-foot retail center that would serve employees of the office center. The rest would be office space.

The developer now wants to increase the retail center to 200,000 square feet, but this cannot be done without the city’s approval. Lopata said the developer wants the change because there is no market for office space.

Mark Ossola, vice president of Kilroy Industries, did not return phone calls this week. But he said in October that talks had broken down and that the developer was considering suing the city to resolve the disagreement over the project’s size.

“Talks have never broken down,” Lopata said. “To this point, the city has not talked about lawsuits.”

Ossola threatened to sue after he apparently realized that council members would not approve the compromise, Lopata said.

Until recently, officials from Kilroy Industries have said they would accept no less than a 2,400-seat movie theater as part of the project. The officials recently indicated that a 2,000-seat theater would be acceptable under certain conditions, according to a source close to the negotiations.

Kilroy Industries also has agreed to reduce the overall size of the project by 300,000 square feet for a total of about 1.2 million square feet, Lopata said.

The theater has been a point of contention for many city residents, who say they worry that the theater would bring crime and congestion.

“You always ask for more than you really want,” said Ted Rosenquist, a member of Save Our City, which is opposed to the project.

“The majority of the people in the community want the project significantly reduced, and many don’t want any theater whatsoever,” he said.

“What we would really like is to have the project be consistent with the Western historical style of Old Town. . . . The offer to reduce the project by 300,000 square is insincere because people are not building office space right now. That’s an illusionary, meaningless offer in today’s real estate market.”