$34-Million Government Center for Valley OKd

The Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved a $34-million government center for the San Fernando Valley--a project that both secessionists and foes claimed as a symbol of their conflicting causes.

More than a decade in the works, the Marvin Braude San Fernando Valley Constituent Service Center, named after the former councilman, will consolidate city offices now spread throughout the Valley into one three-story structure in Van Nuys.

“This is a major milestone for Van Nuys, for the Valley and for the entire city,” said Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who said the project will spark a “renaissance” of Van Nuys’ commercial core.

Miscikowski, who represents part of the area, said construction should start in six months. She said work would begin in the city parking lot at the southeast corner of Van Nuys Boulevard and Sylvan Street, with the building ready for occupancy in about 18 months.

The new, Mediterranean-style Braude building will include 9,000 square feet on the ground floor for shops and restaurants to help defray project costs. The adjacent historic Van Nuys City Hall building, partly vacant since the 1994 Northridge earthquake, will be repaired and renovated and used for city offices.

The project has taken on added symbolism since Valley VOTE petitioned to study creation of a Valley city, contending in part that the Valley has been shortchanged in the apportionment of city resources.

City Council members pointed Friday to approval of the project as a sign they are giving the Valley the attention it deserves.

“I think they should feel the City Council has heard them,” Miscikowski said. “The City Council is showing it is getting the message.”

The project was initially proposed in 1988, but did not advance significantly until Braude revived it after the earthquake damaged the old Van Nuys City Hall.

But Valley VOTE Chairman Richard Close said the wait for approval confirms his view that the Valley has been overlooked.

“The fact that we have waited since January 1994 for them to proceed with this has raised many questions during the last five years,” Close said. “Especially given that they are spending $273 million on the City Hall downtown.”

Close said the drive for Valley cityhood, in particular the successful petition drive, is responsible.

“It is sorely needed and gratefully accepted,” Close said of the project. “Because of the petition drive, frankly we are getting the attention of the downtown political structure and we’re finally seeing long overdue projects coming to us.”

City officials said one reason the project has taken so long is lack of funding.

Under the complex deal approved Friday, developer Voit Cos. will build the 142,000-square-foot office building on city land with private financing and lease it back to the city for 30 years.

The city will pay $3.8 million annually to lease and maintain the building. That amount is nearly twice the annual lease rate initially estimated for the project.

The cost will be partly offset by savings from cancellation of existing private leases for city offices elsewhere in the Valley, and by some Federal Emergency Management Agency funds provided for relocating workers from the old Van Nuys City Hall.

There remains, however, a difference of about $750,000 annually that will have to be made up by the city through tapping its general fund.

The council also voted Friday to reserve $34 million in bond financing for possible purchase of the building.

Acting City Administrative Officer Paul Cauley said it will probably make sense to buy if the city is financially healthy and the project is completed smoothly.

The new building will become home to city departments that are now spread among five private leases and six other city buildings. In the new building, Valley residents will be able to pay taxes and obtain permits from the city clerk, Building and Safety Department, Fire Department, Bureau of Engineering and the Planning Department. The mayor and Miscikowski will also have offices in the building, as will the city attorney’s civil and criminal branches.

The building will also include a community meeting room and a large public plaza.

Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas said the project is the second of six constituent service centers being built throughout the city to improve services away from City Hall.

“It will go a long way to decentralize city services, causing the face of the city of Los Angeles to be more constituent-friendly,” Ridley-Thomas said.

Councilman Nate Holden joined the unanimous vote in favor of the project only after voicing reservations on the lease-back deal with Voit.

“We are going to lease it back and they become trillionaires,” Holden said. “I never liked that sale-lease-back stuff.

The chief legislative analyst said the contract with the developer caps the city’s cost of buying the project at $34 million, even if the developer has cost overruns.

In addition to providing more efficient city services to the public, the building is also seen by city officials as helping spark the economic revitalization of the surrounding, blighted commercial core of Van Nuys.

When combined with other city programs targeting Van Nuys, the building project “will help move forward the renaissance that’s happening in Van Nuys,” Miscikowski said.

Councilman Mike Feuer, who also represents part of Van Nuys, said the project does start to address concerns of many Valley residents on the service they get from City Hall.

“It’s very significant to put constituent services in a first-class setting in the San Fernando Valley,” he said.

The project could help Valley residents become more involved in their government, Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg said.

“There is no doubt about it that, if we’re going to get people involved in civic life, they have to have access to the location of a lot of government services and it has got to be closer than coming downtown if you are in the San Fernando Valley,” Goldberg said.

Still, Westside Councilwoman Ruth Galanter said she does not believe the project will end talk of secession.

“I have no illusions on that score,” she said. “I expect that conversation to go on at a similar volume for quite a time.”

Braude said the project was frustrating at times but worth the pursuit.

“I’m delighted,” he said Friday. “It was a long time coming. The lesson is you’ve got to keep plugging away at it.”