Construction of an office tower at a prominent corner in Beverly Hills continues. So does the bitter dispute about its future.
The battle centers on a building under construction at Wilshire and Robertson boulevards. Original plans called for office use, but the developer later asked to turn much of the building into medical office space. City Hall rejected the request, citing traffic concerns.
The latest development in the battle came last month, when a council member alleged that the city withheld key information supporting the developer’s position.
Councilwoman Nancy Krasne has issued a statement saying that a city traffic engineer had written a memo agreeing with the developer, Kobor Family Trust, that traffic to a medical office building wouldn’t be severe, but that the memo was not shared with council members.
The Kobor Family Trust was permitted for a four-story, 75,000-square-foot office building at the site. But when the office market tanked in late 2008, the project’s financing fell through.
The trust applied to the city for permission to convert up to 55,000 square feet of the building to medical use, which would allow the trust to obtain another construction loan. But the city, which has been considering limits on medical office space, denied the request, citing adverse traffic impacts.
The trust sued for permission for the medical conversion, or else seeks $40 million in damages. A January trial date has been set.
Construction is in jeopardy because the trust has been unable to secure another loan, according to the trust’s attorney, Benjamin Reznik.
In her Oct. 19 statement, Krasne said, “I now believe that city staff actively and purposely withheld this key information from the council because … staff was determined to present the application in the most negative light it could.”
Krasne said Community Development Director Susan Healy Keene refused to disclose the memo, and believes that Keene was acting under orders of then-City Manager Rod Wood.
Keene, through city spokeswoman Therese Kosterman, declined to comment, citing the legal action. Wood – who wrote an op-ed published in the Business Journal in September supporting limits on medical office space in Beverly Hills – denied asking staff to withhold information from the council, but would not comment further, also citing legal action.
A City Hall statement to the Business Journal read: “The information was provided to the staff who were present at the City Council hearing on the project and those staff members were available to answer any questions from the City Council regarding traffic issues.”
