Ad Campaign Pokes at Marina's Imminent Demise

"Rodeo Drive will still be there tomorrow."

The marina, apparently, will not. A bikini-clad woman on a boat accompanies that statement in a new ad released by the Marina del Rey Convention and Visitors Bureau. The bureau is making a sneaky attempt to lure visitors from far and wide before the marina and surrounding businesses and attractions are, well, gone. The above rendering shows a worst-case scenario of flooding up to 20 feet. Researchers at the Pacific Institute, a California seawater think tank, put predictions closer to 6 feet by the year 2100. Sea level rise is an effect of thermal expansion, the global warming phenomenon whereby water molecules physically expand.

The worst-hit areas will be low-lying coastal regions and man-made environments. Parts of the Bay Area, like San Francisco airport and residential Foster City, were built over landfill and sit dangerously low to the water. Marina del Rey, the nation's largest small boat harbor, is also an artificial environment and faces similar risks. More threatened however, are the areas just to the north (Venice) and just to the south (Playa del Rey) of the harbor. The entire stretch of land covered in the above image is part of the Ballona wetlands and was historically a natural marsh that fed run water from the Ballona creek into the ocean. The marsh would flood during rainy season, and dry up during the dry season. Today however, the area is almost 100% built up. And proximity to the ocean means prices are not cheap.

Since it opened in 1965, Marina del Rey has been the pleasure capital for LA's nautical elite. Miami-style high-rise condos and luxury hotels have sprouted up along its fringes. The latest slew of these however, have been heavily hit by the recent real estate dropout. Perhaps consumers know all too well about the area's watery future. So go ahead - visit Marina del Rey. Just don't stay there... you're much better off shopping in Beverly Hills.

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.