Deal Near on Proposed Entertainment Center : Development: City next week will debate agreement with firm to turn lot next to Arts Plaza into a center featuring a theater, restaurants and specialty shops.

Moving closer toward turning the empty lot next to the Civic Arts Plaza into a bustling entertainment center, Thousand Oaks city officials are ready to sign an exclusive deal with an El Segundo-based company to develop the land.

Kilroy Industries is proposing a 180,000-square-foot center to be built on about nine acres next to the Civic Arts Plaza. The center would be anchored by a multiscreen movie theater and include specialty shops, restaurants--possibly a Wolfgang Puck Cafe--and pedestrian walkways.

City officials see it as a complement to the giant performing arts center and City Hall, which opened nearly a year ago.

“It is planned to balance and fit in and harmonize with the heart of the community, the Civic Arts Plaza,” City Manager Grant Brimhall said.

Tuesday, the City Council is scheduled to debate whether to sign an exclusive agreement with Kilroy Industries, promising not to negotiate with any other interested developer for at least 90 days. Kilroy was one of three companies that submitted proposals for building on the site. In July, the council selected Kilroy as the leading candidate. The company and the city have been negotiating since and are now close to signing a contract.

Council members Judy Lazar and Andy Fox, who both serve on a committee devoted to developing the so-called private side of the Civic Arts Plaza, are recommending that the full council sign off on the agreement.

Under terms of the proposed contract, Kilroy has 35 days to secure a commitment from a major cinema operator for the multiplex. According to Fox and Lazar, Kilroy has two interested companies in mind.

Mayor Jaime Zukowski said she has some concerns on the project being based around a movie theater. She cited the rapidly growing number of movie screens in the area from Camarillo to Agoura and said the market may already be close to its saturation point.

For instance, earlier this week the AMC theater chain backed out of a deal to operate a multiscreen movie theater in downtown Ventura, a decision that came just two weeks after Century Theatres submitted an application to add eight additional movie screens to its Century 8 theater complex on Johnson Drive in east Ventura.

Zukowski also said traffic problems could arise from the numbers of people flocking to live performances and films scheduled to start at the same time. Already there have been parking problems arising from the two theaters at the Civic Arts Plaza.

“I just want to be sure we’re doing what is the best use for that location,” Zukowski said.

Under the agreement, Kilroy must provide the city with a construction schedule and explain the project’s financing within the 90 days. Another El Segundo company, Haverford Capital, has agreed to back the entertainment center.

Just 10 miles down the Ventura Freeway, Kilroy is developing a similar retail and entertainment center in Calabasas, the Calabasas Park Centre. The company has not broken ground on that project yet, though fountains and red-tiled signs already mark the entrance.

For the Thousand Oaks project, the Dallas-based architectural firm RTKL Associates Inc. has drawn up conceptual site plans showing outlines of the buildings, which would be set back on the property, away from Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

A key question remains: Will Kilroy buy or lease the property from the city?

The agreement leaves room for both options. The city purchased 22 acres--including the former Jungleland wild animal park and surrounding properties--for $22 million, with plans to sell off the private side for development. Based on the city’s purchase price, the 11-acre private side would then be valued at $11 million.

Kilroy is apparently not interested in using the entire property; According to a memo from Fox and Lazar to other council members, they say 2.5 acres would be reserved near the rear of the site for a potential future office or hotel site.