Plans for Westwood High-Rise Withdrawn Under Pressure
By DANNY KING
Staff Reporter
The developer planning a controversial high-rise condominium on the site of the Century Wilshire Hotel in Westwood has pulled out of the project.
California Landmark entered into a development agreement with Century Wilshire Inc., owner of the site at 10776 Wilshire Blvd., in August and floated plans for a 24-story, 119-unit project.
Located in the Wilshire-Westwood Scenic Corridor Specific Plan area, where a six-story, 75-foot height limit was enacted in 1981, the project proposed by California Landmark was based on the belief that the site carried grandfathered entitlements allowing for a 301-foot-high building.
But in exceeding the 1981 height limit, the plan drew criticism from area homeowners.
The homeowners associations of the Longford and Westford, the two condominium high-rises that flank the site, complained about the size of the project to City Councilman Jack Weiss. In a Jan. 16 letter to the Longford group, Weiss confirmed the end of the plan.
“Following my discussions with your association, the developer and various City departments, several legal and quality-of-life issues become apparent,” Weiss wrote. “As a result of these issues and other matters, the developer has decided not to pursue the proposed project.”
In an e-mail, Ken Kahan, chief executive at L.A.-based California Landmark Development, said: “We are still moving forward with six other major developments and felt that the time commitment necessary for the hotel site would not be a good fit for us.”
Weiss did not return calls seeking comment, but his spokeswoman, Lisa Hansen, said the reference to legal issues related to the entitlements.
“Our office is looking into why the entitlements don’t expire,” Hansen said. “The community brought the legal questions to our attention, so we want to know whether everything has been done to allow a developer to build what was approved by the city 22 years ago.”
Kahan did not address whether the time commitment related to entitlement issues.
Whether the entitlements would be subject to an expiration date is unclear. The initial entitlements were approved just prior to the enactment of the Corridor Scenic Plan and a final tract map on the property was certified by the city in 1987, locking in the entitlements, according to L.A. City Planning Director Con Howe.
But Monika Mallick, principal at Century Wilshire Inc., said the approvals were tentative and that the entitlements were still in effect.
“It’s a grandfathered approval, and we’re going to explore all of our options,” said Mallick, who said California Landmark pulled out of the project about a month ago but referred questions about the reasons for the withdrawal to Kahan.
Tentative tract maps need to be acted upon by a certain date, said Ken Bley, senior land use attorney with Cox Castle & Nicholson LLP, although final tract maps are still subject to issues like traffic mitigation.
“Once you’ve gotten the approval, you’re exempt from (the Corridor Scenic Plan height limit),” said Bley. “A final tract map is good forever.”
Herb Nadel, president of Nadel Architects Inc., which was retained to design the project, did not rule out another developer coming in. “The project is by no means dead,” he said.
The California Landmark project was to be one of three earmarked for a stretch of luxury condo and apartment complexes commonly referred to as “the Golden Mile.”Plans for Westwood High-Rise Withdrawn Under PressureCalifornia Landmark and partner Fifield Cos. are building a 23-story, 80-unit condo at the southwest corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Malcolm Avenue. Fifield late last year bought the half-acre vacant lot at the southeast corner of Wilshire and Comstock Avenue for $12.5 million, with plans to develop a 21-story, 35-unit building.
