Playa Vista Signs Deals for 1st Homes

Sponsors of a controversial plan to build a vast housing and commercial complex near Ballona Wetlands have announced deals for construction of the area’s first 1,600 homes.

In a ceremony scheduled for this morning, representatives of the Playa Vista development officially will release the names of seven construction firms that have agreed to purchase and develop 40 acres of land below the bluffs of Loyola Marymount University.

The builders have yet to obtain the necessary permits for the three- and four-story structures but say they will do so in the next 60 days, after the land purchase has been completed.

Playa Vista officials would not disclose the sale price, but said the $420 million figure represented the total, projected retail value of the completed units.

In announcing the deals, promoters of the development are hoping to shed the perception that the Playa Vista project has become mired in doubt since the loss of a key tenant--DreamWorks SKG. Promoters also announced the start of work on an already-approved visitors center.

“If this doesn’t tell people that Playa Vista is a go, I don’t know what will,” said Playa Vista President Peter B. Denniston.

The residential construction companies involved in the project are some of the state’s and the nation’s largest builders of planned living communities. The seven are Ryland Homes, Shea Homes, John Laing Homes, Warmington Homes California, the Olson Co., the Lee Group and Fairfield Residential.

On Wednesday, Mayor Richard Riordan, a supporter of the project, said the announcement was significant for the city as well as for the developers. Despite heavy opposition from some environmentalists, Playa Vista had weathered the storm and would do much to fill a growing need for housing on the Westside, he said.

“I think this is just an example of how hard it is to get a development off the ground in any urban area,” Riordan said. “That they’ve managed to get this far means they’ve stood strong.”

However, those Los Angeles residents who live near the planned community said they had heard similar claims made by a variety of developers over the last 20 years, and took a far more skeptical view of the announcement. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” said Terry Conner, president of La Villa Marina Council Inc., a neighbors group.

In its entirety, the Playa Vista project calls for the construction of 13,000 residences and 2 million square feet of commercial space for high-tech and entertainment industry tenants. Playa Vista officials say the complex is designed to address the Westside’s chronic housing crunch and will offer a mix of affordable and market-rate units. The property itself totals more than 1,000 acres of open space just south of Marina del Rey--the city’s largest expanse of undeveloped land.

Most of the first 1,600 units slated for construction should be completed by the end of 2001, according to Playa Vista Vice President David Herbst. Monthly rents will range from below $1,000 to more than $4,000. The residences are part of a vast planned community that, according to developers, encourages the conservation of fuel and builds a sense of community by offering residents retail shops, a workplace and recreation space at the same site.

The Playa Vista property includes portions of the Ballona Wetlands, a crucial habitat for coastal plant and animal life. Most of the property was once used for oil drilling, or as runway and manufacturing space by Hughes Aircraft. Playa Vista opponents, the Wetlands Action Network in particular, insist that the land should be kept as open space and maintained as a wildlife preserve. On Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the action network said her group planned to oppose permits for the newly proposed buildings.

“I think the permits are going to be a problem for them,” said Marcia Hanscom, who noted that her group has filed court papers contesting the city’s subdivision of the property. The courts threw out an earlier lawsuit, and Hanscom said the current filing was an appeal of that decision.

Sherman R. Harmer Jr., vice chairman of Olson, said that his firm has worked on numerous planned communities in Southern California and that Playa Vista was perhaps the most comprehensive. Harmer said he was well aware of the project’s history and of its opponent’s tenacity, but that this didn’t discourage him from buying property there.

“I think that type of thing is pretty standard for California,” Harmer said. “There are always people who don’t like what you’re doing.”