Westwood Complex Meets Opposition
Plans for a $100-million apartment and retail complex in Westwood are drawing fire as--once again--a savvy developer tries to push limits on new construction while equally sophisticated neighborhood activists battle to scale down his project.
For decades, Westwood was a busy retail area and a hot spot for movie premieres. But in the late 1980s, a spate of violence scared off moviegoers and the recession reined in development. Now areas of the village are showing solid signs of life after more than a decade of relative sluggishness. Grocers, druggists and specialty markets are opening in new and renovated buildings.
Development in Westwood has long been a rough sport, unsuited for the impatient or the undercapitalized. Large projects have been delayed for years in legal and political struggles, and some developers have been driven off without breaking ground. At least two builders have given up on high-profile proposals for a site on Glendon Avenue that a Beverly Hills developer is trying to improve.
The 4.25-acre property between bustling Wilshire Boulevard and Westwood Village’s retail core is home to aging commercial buildings, parking lots and Glendon Manor, an apartment building dating to the early days of the village. Developer Casden Glendon, led by veteran builder Alan Casden, proposes to build 350 luxury apartments atop ground-floor stores and restaurants and a three-level subterranean garage.
Palazzo Westwood, as it would be known, would consist of two five-story buildings flanking Glendon Avenue, south of Weyburn Avenue and west of Tiverton Avenue. The street would be narrowed and the sidewalk widened to accommodate outdoor cafes and make the block more attractive to pedestrians.
The project’s potential effect on traffic--a common point of conflict for new developments--isn’t the key concern for neighborhood groups that have contested previous plans for the site.
Rather, the lines have been drawn over other issues that have dogged past proposals--overall density of the development, height and perhaps most notably, parking.
Opponents say the project doesn’t comply with the Westwood Village Specific Plan and will exacerbate the village’s shortage of parking spaces--Palazzo’s 1,450-stall garage public notwithstanding.
“The problem isn’t that Westwood doesn’t have enough apartments,” said veteran Westwood activist and business consultant Steve Sann. “It’s that there’s not enough parking. Westwood merchants will tell you they don’t want to lose any on-street parking,” added Sann, who opposes Casden’s plan to eliminate such parking for wider sidewalks.
At least one merchant has a different opinion. Fernand Page, owner of the 25-year-old Moustache Cafe on Glendon, said his business would benefit from Palazzo’s public parking--not to mention all those prosperous apartment dwellers.
“I’m very open to this plan,” Page said. “I don’t understand why people would oppose something that will boost business here.”
Casden spokesman Howard Katz said Palazzo includes more parking than is required under the specific plan, and that narrowing Glendon Avenue to create exceptionally wide sidewalks with alfresco dining will enhance Westwood’s pedestrian atmosphere.
Responses to the Palazzo’s draft environmental impact report suggest that the city approval process will focus on parking and other issues stemming from traditional conflicts between builders and neighborhood groups.
Developers generally want to maximize density--more developed space earns more rental revenue and enhances the property’s resale value. Neighbors often want to restrict density to reduce the potential effect of development on their quality of life.
*
Parking Debate Might Clarify City’s Concept
Debate over the parking requirements for Palazzo may help clarify the city’s position on a land-conserving design concept gaining favor in many large cities: the mix of residential and commercial uses, said Los Angeles planning consultant Larry Kosmont.
While the city has in recent years adopted general guidelines that encourage mixed-use development in some locations, the Westwood Village Specific Plan doesn’t define mixed-use as a distinct land-use category.
“This is a defining moment for the mixed-use concept here--not to mention for Westwood Village,” said Kosmont, whose firm provided tax-analysis consulting for developer Ira Smedra, who failed to earn support for a theater and retail complex at the Palazzo site.
Casden Glendon is affiliated with Casden Properties of Beverly Hills. In connection with its recent $822-million purchase of Casden Properties’ vast apartment portfolio, nationwide apartment owner-manager Apartment Investment & Management Co. of Denver has agreed to help fund Palazzo’s development and has an option to buy it upon completion.
The developers seek amendments to the Westwood Village specific plan, a land-use planning tool. Among the requested changes is an amendment to allow the builders to construct Palazzo as a single development, rather than being subject to the specific plan’s block-by-block zoning designations.
The specific plan puts the property’s two parcels--on either side of Glendon--under different land-use and density designations.
But in comments filed with the city Planning Department about the draft EIR, Westwood activists urge officials to make Casden stick to the specific plan--a complex blueprint adopted by the city in 1989 after intense debate.
Terry Tagnazian, a Westwood attorney, property and business owner who helped establish a group called Save Westwood Village, offers several objections to the Palazzo proposal:
The project is substantially larger than would be allowed under a strict interpretation of the specific plan. Its underground parking doesn’t come close to compensating for the loss of on-street and surface-lot stalls. And unlike a hotel-centered proposal floated for the site in the 1980s, the Palazzo would entail demolition of the 1920s-vintage Glendon Manor apartment building.
The project’s fate may not be decided for months. Westside City Councilman Jack Weiss said he plans to evaluate responses to the draft EIR before taking a position on the Casden Glendon proposal.
Weiss, who campaigned against the previous retail and cinema plan for the site proposed by developer Smedra, said the primary concern of many nearby residents is to improve the property’s “blighted condition.” The Palazzo would replace old and mostly unused commercial, apartment and theater buildings.
“People are open to a proposal that will not meaningfully affect traffic,” Weiss said, “[especially] something that will help beautify Westwood.”
The Casden group wants to replace commercial space allowed by the specific plan on Glendon with additional apartments in a Classical Spanish Revival motif designed by Santa Monica architects Van Tilburg Banvard & Soderbergh.
By Casden’s calculations, the specific plan allows the property owners to build 213 residential units and 230,000 square feet of commercial space. The developer’s proposal calls for half that amount of retail space--all fronting Glendon--topped with 350 apartments.
Some Westwood activists dispute Casden’s density calculations and take exception to other details and proposed amendments in the draft EIR. Opponents have requested that the Planning Department “correct and recirculate” the study.
Katz characterized the opposition as “redundant and orchestrated” and not representative of the broader community’s impression of the Palazzo proposal.
*
Height Limits an Issue for Activist Groups
Activist Sann countered that the Save Westwood Village group is not anti-development and includes active area real estate professionals among its ranks.
The specific plan, Sann said, includes hard-won compromises over height limits, unit counts and other details. “So what’s galling to the community is to see Casden come in and treat the plan like it’s the floor [for density calculations].”
Casden Glendon’s Katz said the requested amendments are reasonable and make the project more viable while retaining the specific plan’s “integrity and spirit.”
Neighborhood groups including Friends of Westwood say the proposed buildings would rise more than 80 feet from street level--rather than the 55 feet as calculated by Casden in the draft EIR.
Katz said the Palazzo Westwood design includes architectural detailing above the top-floor ceilings--which he said would be 55 feet above the street. “We’d have to remove that jewelry” if measurements are taken from the highest point of the structure, he said.
That or just shorten the building by a floor or two, opponents counter.
Then there’s the matter of 42-unit Glendon Manor. Some local activists want the developers to incorporate the nearly 75-year-old apartment building--which holds state historic-landmark eligibility--into the Palazzo project rather than demolish it.
But Katz said activists took the Glendon Manor preservation cause to Sacramento only after Los Angeles officials declined to provide landmark status to what Katz called an “eyesore.” The property would require extensive renovation of structural elements and building systems, and Casden has “no interest in saving it,” Katz said.
Perhaps by the end of the year, City Council members will decide whether Casden Glendon can build Palazzo in some form.
That day can’t some too soon for restaurateur Page. “If anyone on the City Council refuses to support this project,” he said, “then they’re not supporting business in Westwood Village.”
