I like what I read here. Bloomingdales would be moved out facing the street meeting new pedestrians as they come out of the future subway station. The fact that a new tower/Bloomingdales wouldn't be done for another 5 years or so makes it that much closer to an actual real subway going to Century City in the next 10 years. Century City may be transformed to an actually urban area with people walking around everywhere!
Is it just me, or does this Martha Groves sounds SUPER biased against the Westfield project in her writing below?
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latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...track=ntothtml
From the Los Angeles Times
Ambitious mall project moving ahead in Century City
Westfield is pursuing an $800-million development that would move Bloomingdale's, add retail and office space, and replace a Westside landmark with a 49-story tower.
By Martha Groves
November 12, 2008
Unlike some cash-strapped competitors in the shopping center business, Westfield has nearly $7 billion in the bank and can't wait to start knocking down buildings and digging dirt for an ambitious expansion of its Century City mall.
The $800-million project entails relocating Bloomingdale's, adding retail and office space, razing one of the original twin "Gateway" buildings designed by Welton Becket and replacing it with a 49-story tower with 262 apartments or condos.
Despite a boom in high-rise development in Century City that has surrounding neighborhood groups on high alert, the mall expansion has experienced remarkably smooth sailing for a proposal of its size.
On Thursday, the city Planning Commission is expected to approve the Australian company's environmental impact report, paving the way for passage by the City Council. The project has the backing of Councilman Jack Weiss, who represents Century City and has received more than $8,000 in contributions from Westfield executives for his city attorney campaign.
Westfield has also been a big donor to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, giving him $100,000 for his committee to take over the school district and $50,000 for his 2007 U.S. Conference of Mayors, held in Century City.
The Westfield project reflects a new direction in Century City's core, which for decades featured mostly offices and hotels but is now creating hundreds of upscale residences. Westfield says the mall expansion would add to the "live, work, shop and play" vibe.
Neighborhood groups contend that the project is too big and too tall and will produce too much traffic. But traffic isn't their only concern. They say the development will further strain already inadequate services, from police and fire to schools, libraries and electric and water utilities.
"We have a huge project and no corresponding infrastructure to go with it," said David Tyrone Vahedi, an attorney who is running for City Council in District 5, which includes Century City. "When they're selling these condo units for $3 million, do they tell these people that there's very little police protection? That there's traffic congestion and so few officers that response time is unacceptable?"
For years, Century City and environs have experienced an almost unrivaled building boom. Century City in particular has been a hotbed of construction, with projects including 2000 Avenue of the Stars (which replaced the ABC Entertainment Center) and Westfield's $170-million first-phase redo of the outdoor shopping center, including a rooftop dining deck, enlarged movie theaters and, most recently, a parking system that directs patrons to available spaces (green light overhead) and away from occupied spaces (red light overhead).
Also underway is Related Cos.' 39-story condo tower at the site of the former St. Regis Hotel on Avenue of the Stars. Down the street at the corner of Constellation Boulevard, JMB Realty Corp. of Chicago plans three condo towers.
In nearby Beverly Hills, the Montage resort hotel is scheduled to open this month. And the Beverly Hilton is hoping that a final vote count on Measure H will allow it to proceed with a 12-story Waldorf-Astoria hotel and two luxury condo towers.
Some residents say that the accumulation of projects will inevitably exacerbate traffic problems. Westfield's environmental impact report concluded that the expansion would indeed worsen traffic.
"People are saying, 'We can't take any more density until we have the ability to offer [transit] alternatives,' " said Barbara Broide, president of the Westwood South of Santa Monica Homeowners Assn. "We are hoping that the council district office, the Planning Commission and the City Council all realize that a project of this magnitude can't be built as proposed unless some strong investments are made in the community."
Westfield executives counter that urban density beats sprawl. The company plans to encourage other Century City businesses to participate in a shuttle program for the area's 40,000 employees, and it envisions adding a station to link up with a proposed "Subway to the Sea" or another Metro mass transit program.
"This sort of development will lead to a much better and much more integrated Century City," said Peter Lowy, Westfield's co-chief executive, who heads the company's U.S. operations.
By demolishing two high-rise office towers, he added, Westfield will be reducing peak-hour traffic. (The other structure is the Houlihan Lokey office building on Century Park West, which will be replaced with a five-story parking structure with a rooftop parking level and two existing below-ground levels. The project calls for adding 1,899 spaces, for a total of 4,529 spaces for retail, office and residential.)
Lowy said the company is eager to establish a proper retail frontage on Avenue of the Stars and Santa Monica Boulevard, which would be accomplished in part by relocating Bloomingdale's from the mall's core to the new tower on the avenue.
Westfield acknowledges that it is negotiating with a coalition of neighborhood groups, which are urging the company to contribute funds that could be parceled out to police, fire, schools and other community services. As of Tuesday, no settlement had been reached.
Then there's 1801 Avenue of the Stars, one of the twin glass-and-aluminum gateway buildings featured in the 1961 Century City master plan developed by Welton Becket & Associates. After the 1957 repeal of the city's 150-foot building height limit, Century City was conceived as a high-rise satellite commercial center. The full plan, for a pedestrian-friendly, beautifully landscaped zone, was never realized.
In a Nov. 4 letter, the Los Angeles Conservancy urged the Planning Commission to consider alternatives to demolition. But Westfield contends that it would be impossible to convert the building to condos and build a transit station.
"I think there's a lot that's good about this project," Weiss said. "At this point in time, with this economy, it would be public policy malpractice to tell someone who wants to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in your community to go take a hike," he said.
Groves is a Times staff writer.
martha.groves@latimes.com
Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.
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