City Discusses Parcel B Options

As soon as next month, community workshops will allow residents to express how they would like the last significant empty plot in downtown to take shape.

Vacant for at least two decades, Parcel B, situated next to Trader Joe's and the movie theater, was discussed by the Redevelopment Agency Monday. Requests for a development design, or a request for proposals (RFP), along with public workshops to vet the design could happen as early as November. In many cities the redevelopment agency is composed of the City Council members, as is the case in Culver City.

The agency had the option of pursuing short term, mid-range or long-term plans for the site.

Most agency members favored looking toward long-term plans and getting public workshops established, in addition to locking down a design, which means reaching out the development community.

Short-term uses were also discussed, but the emphasis was on a plan that would complete downtown and add much-needed retail to the thriving restaurants scene and busy movie theater.

Additional parking as part of this development was also seen as a key element.

"What downtown evolves into will be largely dependant on Parcel B," agency member Andrew Weissman said. "We should take the time necessary for the right project."

Weissman also said he took part in the planning workshops several years ago for the development of downtown.

"We've gone to great lengths in developing downtown to make it pedestrian- friendly and any project on Parcel B (along with) the expansion of Town Plaza, has to be pedestrian friendly," he said.

"I think we need to work backwards," Weissman added. "We should decide what we want to see. We don't want short-term (use) that will interfere with the long-term (project)."

Agency members and those who spoke during the public comment period Monday all seemed to agree on the significance of the parcel. Many made note of the fact that visitors to the city would likely see this development first, especially when exiting a completed Expo Line train. Given its central location, Parcel B could be the last piece of the puzzle to establish downtown as a destination.

Culver City Planning Commissioner and architect Anthony Pleskow was one of the eight people who addressed the agency.

"The project needs to be a phenomenal piece of architecture that raises the bar," he said. "We need destination architecture not just destination retail."

Christain Chaudhari, a Culver City resident and urban designer, said he looked at the design schemes posted online of the previous development and was worried.

"It should blow your mind," he said. "There's a clear unawareness of the project's importance. You bring the right program here and the city will buzz."

Weissman said before the meeting that the council/agency had not discussed the property in two or three years and noted how long it sat empty.

"It's been vacant so long that some in the community won't believe we're going to develop it until they actually see something," Weissman said.

In 2006, a three-story, 118,000 square foot commercial building was approved that would include office space for post-production film uses with room for retail and restaurants on the ground floor, along with 84 subterranean parking spaces.

An "entertainment-related major tenant" was associated with the development, according to city documents.

The plan was scratched in 2009, according to city documents.