Weary of the 10, Santa Monica Proposes to Bury Freeway Under Park

The City of Santa Monica last week authorized a petition of $250,000 to the state for the feasibility study of covering I-10 between 14th and 17th streets with a park. The intention of the move is to add more green space to the city, mitigate the presence of the freeway, and bridge some of the neighborhood rifts created by the introduction of the freeway in 1964. The section of freeway in question is bounded by Memorial Park, a small municipal park, to the north, and the Woodlawn Cemetery to the south.

New freeway construction was extremely controversial in the US in the middle half of the last century, as it replaced gigantic swaths of homes and sometimes entire neighborhoods. But the US Interstate system was relentless in its goal of linking the nation's cities. Support for the futuristic network of roads was often even enthusiastic, especially during wartime. But the City of Santa Monica has long resented the presence of the freeway in its city limits - it brings high-speed outsiders to the upscale beachside community.

Sooner or later the city has to realize that, despite its 90,000, it sits at the core of the nation's second biggest metro area. The freeway is an important connector of the city's business district and Pac Coast Hwy with central LA and the rest of Southern California. But anyway, hiding the freeway under a park isn't a bad idea. It will create a large contiguous greenspace with its approx. 7 added acres. It will create a "land bridge" that will be much more pleasant for pedestrians to cross than a typical overpass. And it will begin to break up the dominating repetitiveness of the "grayscape." But it might be expensive. The City of Los Angeles has determined the cost of a similar park over the 101 in Hollywood to be around $1 billion.

Van Nuys Residents Fight to be 'Part of Sherman Oaks'

Some Van Nuys residents who live in the southern part of the neighborhood have embarked on a mission to annex into Sherman Oaks, the tonier Valley neighborhood to the south. The residents, who call their group 'Part of Sherman Oaks,' argue that they already shop and work in Sherman Oaks, and send their kids to Sherman Oaks schools. The two neighborhoods are both incorporated in the City of Los Angeles, but were individual cities before LA's water-related annexation in the 1940s. Their taxes go to LA and their municipal services come from LA but they often use their neighborhood name on their addresses. The area, bounded by Sepulveda Blvd, Oxnard Blvd, Burbank Blvd, and Hazeltine Ave, houses some 18,000 residents.

The southern area of Van Nuys is notably nicer than the rest of that neighborhood, so it makes sense that they would want to identify more with their ritzier sister to the south. The Metro Orange line, and the industrial train tracks that preceded it, is the defining boundary of Van Nuys' two halves. It is true that lines like railroad tracks can form unforgiving urban boundaries, but wasn't Metro's landscaped transitway supposed to cleave the area's opposing neighborhoods?

It sounds like the case of an insecure child who, having been handed into the custody of one parent after a divorce, longs to be with the other parent simply because she is prettier. The upscale residents of south Van Nuys want to rid themselves of the associations of crime, filth, and disrepair that come with that neighborhood. But calling themselves something else isn't going to get rid of those problems. Instead, if the switch happens, Van Nuys will lose some of the important funding and attention that come to that city district. Funding and attention that Sherman Oaks would hardly benefit from. Just seven years after the failed Valley secession movement, some Valley residents just can't get enough gerrymandering.

Struggling KB Home Teams with Disney to Offer Themed Rooms

Fortune 500 homebuilder KB Home, which has been hit particularly hard by the housing crisis, recently announced a collaboration with the Walt Disney Company offering kids' bedrooms designed with specific Disney-related themes. The kids' rooms, which will be optionable in all KB Home developments, will be available in Classic Pooh, Disney Princess, "Cars," or Hannah Montana. The company already offers custom interior design options branded with Martha Stewart, a franchise that never really recovered from the scandal years back.

KB Home, founded by local billionaire Eli Broad, has been riddled with varied suits and trading scandals since 2001. Because of their repeated successes in explosive markets like Texas, Florida, and Southern California, the homebuilder has been dealt a series of heavy blows due to emptied Sunbelt demand.

The arrangement with Disney seems like it would have been a great luxury investment in a time of prosperity. But who's thinking about the theme of their child's bedroom when they're trying to figure out if they can even afford to own a house? Disney has consistently proven itself a marketing genius, embracing breadth and depth in their promotion saturation. What better place to advertise than permanently and pervasively in a child's bedroom? But something tells me KB Home should be putting their creative energy elsewhere...like trying to make people forget about their association with nightmare mortgager Countrywide.

W. Hollywood Entrusts New Cultural Center to Bolster Rep as "Creative City"

The City of West Hollywood has hired Heery International to build phase 1 of the city's master plan - a 32,000 sf library along with 2.5 acres of parkspace adjacent to the Pacific Design Center. The project, which will break ground in about a month, was planned and designed by Culver City architecture firm MDA Johnson Favaro. The library, which will be about six times larger than the decrepit original, will boast high-tech features like video-conferencing rooms and pervasive wireless connectivity. Two parking structures will house an additional 400 spots, in the city infamously strapped for parking.

The added parkspace will combine with the existing West Hollywood Park, located at the intersection of San Vicente Blvd and Santa Monica Blvd. Directly accross from the Pac Design Center on San Vicente, a cafe will be installed with broad sidewalk eating space. The city's master plan, which is split into three installments, is geared toward providing the city with more parkspace and more program to accomodate the city's growing family population. The center will contribute to the cluster of existing and future cultural buildings around the important intersection. If ever realized, Cesar Pelli's much-hyped "Red Boat" will complete the Design Center's Holy Trinity of colorful iconic colossi. The funding-starved project that was proposed in 2006 was slated for completion last year. Aside from a bunch of glossy PR, little has been said for the Charles Cohen venture. Stay tuned for more.

As for WeHo's new Park(ing), Curbed LA has made a good point - shouldn't we have learned something from Pershing Square's dreadful combination of park and parking? And West Hollywood is known for a lot of things, but I can't help but feel a little skeptical about the power of a library and a showroom-on-steroids to spawn a "City of Creativity."

At $22M, Cahuenga Peak Still Too Steep

The most expensive piece of land on the market right now is probably also the most stagnant. A couple of weeks ago, Teles Properties passed the 1-year mark on a chunk of 138 acres atop Cahuenga Peak, priced at an altitude sickness-inducing $22 million. The property, which consists of five contiguous parcels, is being offered up by the Illinois investment firm, Fox River Financial, that purchased the land in 2002 for $1,675,000. Since then, the prospect of development on that land has terrified many an Angeleno, especially because of its proximity to the iconic Hollywood sign. The city even began a fundraising campaign to reclaim the land and attach it to neighboring Griffith Park. Their cost estimate? $6 million. Eek.

The site is located between the termini of Wonder View Dr. and Mt. Lee Dr., straddling the Santa Monica range between the Hollywood Reservoir and Universal City. Much touted by the sellers, is the property's supposed 'rich Hollywood history'... but while the land was owned by Howard Hughes and his estate for almost 70 years, the then-world's richest man never actually built anything on it. In fact (perhaps to the embarassment of the sellers), Hughes' invitation to girlfriend Ginger Rogers to live on the mountain estate is what ultimately drove her away from him. So maybe the site's isolation is a curse, but its height and prominence apparently, are not. In a 30-second video spot reminiscent of a theatrical trailer, the realtor drops the tagline, "In a city of superlatives, live above it all."

The mere listing of this property is so cataclysmic, its outcome will be a major forecast of future development and civic attitudes and trends in Los Angeles. If sold, it will most likely be to a developer, who will choose to split the land into its original 5 parcels to maximize profit. To take full advantage of the incredible 360 degree views, the homes will in turn be highly visible to those down below. This will dilute the potency of the Hollywood sign, which as it stands now, is surrounded exclusively by green city-owned hillside. It is still possible that it might be reclaimed by the city, though not for the listing price, which is arguably inflated. Even less likely, a civic-minded philanthropist might buy the land and deed it to the city amidst much fanfare and corporate PR. Most likely however, the price will be reduced and have to sit a while longer, or it will be taken off the market. I can't vouch for Fox River's recession-era health. Whatever happens, you can be sure there will be plenty of emotional litigation - rarely does a single sale of land imply such a drastic alteration to the existing landscape, physically or visually.

Oh and sorry - I forgot to ask... Interested? Contact Sarah Blanchard at 424-202-3216

Burning Bridges at 6th Street

The Sixth Street Viaduct, a historic bridge spanning the LA River into Boyle Heights, has been flagged for demolition in the next few years. The bridge, built in 1932 is one of 13 historic bridges connecting Downtown to East LA over the river channel, railroad tracks, and industrial lots. Despite preservationists' pleas for conservation and retrofitting of the bridge (mainly from the LA Conservancy), the city favors the replacement of the bridge as a new bridge would last about 150% longer than a retrofitted bridge. The viaduct, which has been weakened by a chemical reaction known as alkali-silica reaction, will most likely collapse in the next 50 years if no action is taken.

The city hired San Francisco bridge-focused architecture firm Donald MacDonald, FAIA to create five different schemes for the design of the new bridge. They range from one exact replica of the existing bridge to two historic-looking designs to two modern cable-structure designs. The replica scheme would be the costliest at $402 million, while the cheapest would be a simple freeway-like concrete deck spanning the river. But the city has made it clear they are interested in creating a bridge that might be a landmark monument for the area.

The architect and engineering teams have agreed that whatever scheme is chosen, it will take into consideration the vocabulary of the existing art deco architecture along the river. After the draft EIR is issued in the coming weeks, the final EIR will arrive around the end of this year, and construction should begin in 2012. But considering the retirement of the rusty train tracks and the drip drip dribble that is the LA River, wouldn't it be prudent to consider a simple at-grade street in place of a big dramatic bridge?

Mixed Decisions on Expo Lightrail Crossings

California Public Utilities Commissioner Rachelle Chong ruled last week on a pair of controversial street crossings for the Expo light rail, under construction between Downtown and Culver City. Her decision allows for an at-grade crossing to be built at Harvard Boulevard, but rejects the Expo Metro Line Construction Authority's request for the at-grade crossing at Farmdale Avenue. The majority of the line's 38 crossings have been approved, but these last two were met with strong opposition from community members who feared for the safety of the students at local high schools.

'Fix the Expo Rail Line' is the community organization created to protest the seemingly dangerous light rail-street crossings near Dorsey High School (Farmdale Avenue) and the Foshay Learning Center (Harvard Boulevard), in South LA. This decision marks a half-victory for that team, as only one of the two crossings was denied. Grade separation is the act by which the right-of-way for the light rail is either dug below street level into a trench or raised above the street on an elevated rail. Both methods of grade separation are prohibitively expensive, and the Metro construction authority has pleaded that they simply cannot afford the changes, and that they will delay the project indefinitely.

Already included in Metro's plan were two above-grade stations (La Brea and La Cienega) and one short underground passage (corner of Jefferson Blvd. and Flower St.), both implemented because of heavy automobile traffic in those areas. They were built into the initial construction budget and planned for. While it is encouraging to learn that the voice of the community is not mute in this project, the delay of the already too-late rail line to the Westside will be unpleasant to builders, financiers, riders, and neighbors. The slow-moving light rail trains will arguably pose little additional threat to the existing dangers of high-speed local boulevards Exposition and Jefferson. And while protesters have made it clear they want to "fix" the line, rather than oppose its implementation, the transit linkage of Downtown with West LA will be a net gain for residents of those nearby areas. All you have to do is look at the traffic on the 10 anytime between 6 am and 9 pm to understand the desperate urgency of this project.

Playa Vista Plows Forward

An updated version of the EIR (Environmental Impact Report) for phase II of the Westside master-planned community Playa Vista was released last week, local newspaper the Argonaut reported. The report, which was rejected by a California appeals court in 2007 for not conforming to environmental investigation standards set forth by the CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act), will be circulated amongst local homeowners, environmental groups, and community organizations for discussion. The Westchester-Playa del Rey Neighborhood Council has already publicly expressed support for the project. Opponents of the plan cited methane gas and water shortages as issues that were poorly investigated in the original EIR, which they say, having been written in 2004, is no longer applicable.

Playa Vista is an enormously controversial master-planned community located on more than 1000 acres in the Ballona wetlands between the LMU campus and Marina del Rey. Despite having been designed with progressive intentions (bike paths, green space, housing-above-retail, walkability), much of the opposition to the development comes from the fact that it is built on some of the sole remaining natural wetlands in the city. The landscape is sensitive here, and is home to several native species of birds and shrubs. The already built portion of the development which sits between imposing natural bluffs and the wide drainage channel Ballona Creek, has led many to complain about increased traffic and the eyesore cookie-cutter architecture.

Phase II, dubbed 'the Village,' will host 150,000 sf of retail and 175,000 sf of office space, in addition to new housing. While this will most likely put more traffic on surrounding streets and threaten the local water supply, Playa Vista is a green-minded development that has so far complied with community demands, and its New Urbanist vision will not be complete without the grocery store, office space, and other added amenities. Those who have already moved into the community did so with the expectation that the plan would eventually be complete - and they are interested in walking to the grocery store and biking to the beach. In the face of a dreadful housing shortage citywide, the developers have complied with the low-income minimum, and are committed to spending $125 million in traffic mitigation. Additionally, they have set aside about 40% of the parkspace as "passive," meaning minimal intervention.

Whatever happens, the dust will start to settle in a few years and it won't look like such an awkward tract development plopped down in the middle of the city. Big-scale drop-ins are one of the only ways to get anything built in this town, wetlands or not. But with Caruso Affiliated as the retail designer/developer, let's just hope we don't get 'The Grove' transplanted on the Westside.