Thursday, December 5, 1996
WESTWOOD:
Large-scale project seeks addition of stores, movie theatersBy Rachel Munoz
Daily Bruin Contributor
To say that Westwood is going downhill is an understatement, made evident by the recent closures of traditional Westwood hangouts like Hamburger Hamlet and Johnny Rockets. Their buildings now join the ranks of vacant store fronts that line the streets of the Village.
A vibrant community filled with families and students seems to be something of the past for Westwood, said developer Ira Smedra. Founder of the Village Center Westwood, a project currently seeking approval by the city, Smedra has made it his goal to revitalize Westwood.
As a UCLA alum, Smedra has spent a great deal of time in Westwood and cares about its prosperity. Living nearby in Hancock Park, he has watched the decline of Westwood over the past few years.
If approved, the project would be located on a 5-acre piece of land in Westwood already purchased by Smedra. The site consists of the south side of Weyburn Avenue between the alley east of Westwood Boulevard and Tiverton Avenue, directly across the street from Macy's department store.
Westwood Brewing Company is one of the restaurants that sits near the future site. Richard Moore, director of operations, expressed his excitement.
"The project is beautiful. It can do a lot with Westwood," Moore said. "We welcome it. It will compliment Westwood and is professionally done. It's the right idea, anything that's going to be good for the town we'd like to see."
Project development is slated to begin in the summer of 1997. Completion is expected to take about two and a half years, with a possible opening around the beginning of the year 2000.
"We can't wait for it to come. It will bring business to the village and bring life back to Westwood," said Shari Foster, a manager at the Olive Garden restaurant near the site.
Existing conditions of the site include two parking lots, totalling 544 spaces combined, and some abandoned buildings. Besides the Farmer's Market on Thursday afternoon, there is little use of the east side of Westwood.
"Westwood has phenomenal demographics with a void in the middle. It's terrible. All you see is empty store fronts," Smedra said.
The 600,000 square feet Village project was designed by Kanner Architects, a local Westwood business.
Smedra states, "The Kanners have got it down to a T," mirroring the project after the Village itself at its prime using a distinctive line of towers and a Mediterranean style.
"This project is the next millennium of design. (The community) wants a European atmosphere," stated Tracy Williams, a consultant for the project.
The project's plan consists of three levels and subterranean parking. The first level, the plaza level, would contain a 24-hour Ralphs, a drug store and other neighborhood service stores such as a dry cleaner, a barber and a beauty supply store.
Clothing and shoe stores would inhabit the street level, in addition to children's shops, a music store and an eyewear specialist.
Finally, the third level would be composed solely of restaurants, a 16-screen movie theater and an IMAX theater. The surrounding restaurants would have a view of Weyburn Avenue and the plaza level below.
Beyond the buildings, the plaza level would house waterfalls, outside seating, lush shrubbery and trees.
This open-air public plaza may provide the ambience that Williams believes Westwood is looking for.
"Do the current parking lots have ambience?" Williams asks.
However, the Village project worries some community residents, including Laura Lake and her community preservation group, Friends of Westwood. Lake and the Friends accuse the project of adding traffic congestion, too many movie seats for Westwood and not enough parking to accommodate the size of the project.
The project will propose 13 intersections and a shuttle system which will cost little to nothing to ride, responds D'Lynda Fischer, project manager.
"More traffic on Wilshire can't be helped. (The Village's) biggest traffic would be at 7 or 8 after people from nearby offices have already gone home," Fischer said.
The closing of Glendon Avenue, part of the project's plan, may also present traffic problems since it is one of the only through streets connecting the village to Wilshire Boulevard. The street would be transformed into a large plaza area joining the first level of the project.
Fischer claims that additional traffic is favorable, signaling that more people are attracted to the village.
Yet another complaint generated by the new project concerns the violation of the community plan. Fischer explains that when plans were made for Westwood 10 years ago, the people believed that there were enough movie theaters and placed a cap on the existing 6,042 seats.
Fischer believes that the community did not consider the evolving process of the village and that additional movie seats, about 4,700, would benefit Westwood.
The parking plan for the project would consist of approximately 2,500 parking spaces, significantly less than the amount of movie seats and expected shoppers.
"We never want to plan parking for 4,700 movie seats because all the seats never will be occupied at the same time," Fischer said, stating that movie attendance barely reaches 45 percent of the available seats on busy days.
Another issue brought to the attention of Smedra and Fischer by concerned residents is crime. Recent gang problems and the shooting that occurred in Westwood almost 10 years ago has influenced people to speculate on the idea of more movie theaters in Westwood.
"People do blame theaters for the downfall of Westwood. We will have security on site. We are also trying to expand the security system to the rest of the village. People need to perceive that they are safe," Fischer said.
Movie theaters, although only about one-third of the actual proposed project, are what Smedra sees as the attracting force behind his project.
"The village needs an anchor tenant. Big box retailers like Target and Sport Mart are the only ones that will come in now. We need quality retailers with an anchor," Fischer said.
Despite the size of the project, students seem unaware of its development. When told a little about the project, Barbara Hajtuczek, a third-year marine biology student said, "I'm bummed I'm not going to be here. I want to be in the class of 2000."
Other students expressed reservations about such a large change of the face of Westwood.
"Truthfully, a project to some extent is okay, but not such a large-scale thing, more quaint and interesting stores would be nice," stated David Klatt, a third-year economics student. But after viewing the project plans, he changed his mind. "Wow, this is gorgeous," he said.
On Dec. 10, an emergency meeting, open to the public, will be held by Lake and the Friends to discuss a redesign of the project. Smedra has recently written a letter to Lake asking if he could attend in order to present his plan.