City Building in Van Nuys Approved

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 many city offices 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 succeeded Braude as representative of the district in which the structure will be built. She said the project will spark a renaissance in the commercial core of Van Nuys.

Construction should start in six months in the city parking lot at Van Nuys Boulevard and Sylvan Street, she said, and the building should be ready to occupy in about 18 months.

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

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

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

“I think they should feel the City Council has heard them,” Miscikowski said.

The project was proposed in 1988 but did not advance significantly until Braude revived it after the Northridge quake damaged Van Nuys City Hall.

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,” he said, “especially given that they are spending $273 million on the City Hall downtown.”

Close said the drive for Valley cityhood is responsible for the approval of the Braude building.

“It is sorely needed and gratefully accepted,” he said. “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, the Voit Cos., the project’s developer, 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.

To lease and maintain the building, the city will pay $3.8 million annually, nearly twice the lease rate originally 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 Van Nuys City Hall.

There still is a difference of about $750,000 annually that the city will have to make up by 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 the Braude Center, if the city is financially healthy and the project is completed smoothly.

The structure will become home to offices of city departments currently spread among five leased sites and six other city buildings, including a one-stop permit office.

At the new building, Valley residents will be able to pay taxes and get permits from the city clerk’s office, Building and Safety Department, Fire Department, Bureau of Engineering and Planning Department. The mayor and Miscikowski will also have offices in the building, as will the city attorney’s civil and criminal branches.

The Braude Center will include a community meeting room and a large public plaza.

When combined with other city programs targeting Van Nuys, the 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 starts to address concerns of many Valley residents about 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.

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.”