Monday,July 30, marked a significant milestone in the construction of Tilden Terrace, a combined affordable housing and retail building.
Since the project groundbreaking on March 26, Dreyfuss Construction has been working on excavation for the subterranean parking and other preparations for the pouring of the main floor slab.
The pouring of the main floor is a significant milestone because it marks the end of the underground work. From this point forward, most of the work will be above ground as the building grows to its eventual height of 33 feet. For persons interested in such details, the dimensions of the main floor are interesting. The slab is approximately 20,000 square feet in area,12 inches thick. That equates to 20,000 cubic feet of concrete.
A quick Google search tells me that concrete has a density of approximately 145 pounds per cubic foot, meaning the main floor slab will weigh 2,900,000 pounds when finished. Further, this slab is designed as a single pour – that is, it must all be poured in one session. Representatives from Dreyfuss Constructionn said that this single part of the construction will require 100-plus truckloads of concrete.
Impressive as the above statistics are – at least to me – even more striking is the continued support for the project within the community.
A construction project of this magnitude will have an impact on neighborhood residents. This project is not an exception due to the number of construction vehicles, concrete trucks and other trades moving around the work site. Compounding the problems, many residents on Tilden Avenue either work from home or do not follow a typical work schedule.
Beauty of Working Together
From the first discussions, the Los Angeles Housing Project and Dreyfuss Construction committed to addressing neighborhood concerns during the construction.
David Sanchez, Project Manager for Dreyfuss Construction, has followed through by meeting with any concerned resident and letting the neighborhood know that any worker found parking in the neighborhood will be sent home from work and not paid for that day’s work.
In another example of neighborhood cooperation, I met with Mr. Sanchez to warn him of the approach of Ramadan, the Islamic holiday that began July 20 and runs through Monday, Aug. 20.
He asked if it would be possible to meet with representatives from the King Fahad Mosque. I was able to facilitate a meeting with representatives of Dreyfuss Construction and King Fahad where issues related to parking and traffic were discussed. The mosque already had been in contact with the Police Dept., and they hired additional security for Ramadan. The Tilden Terrace project is significant in ways beyond being an outstanding example of cooperation.
Perhaps most notable is that Tilden Terrace represents the first affordable housing project in Culver City in more than 10 years. Tilden Terrace won approval from the City Council in early 2011 with the promise of adding to the affordable housing and new retail space. The project will contain 33 affordable housing units when completed, a much-needed addition to affordable living space in Culver City. A final point is the hope that Tilden Terrace will act as a catalyst for further redevelopment along this section of Washington Boulevard, east of Sepulveda Boulevard.
With the loss of the city Redevelopment Agency earlier this year, any new development will need to be privately funded. Indeed there already has been some activity along those lines with Copenhagen Bakery opening across the street and the redevelopment of the old Albertson’s Chevrolet lot at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Sepulveda. Mostly, the residents are looking forward to the end of construction and being able to return to our normal work, and sleep, patterns.
Until that is possible, we are all trying to cooperate with construction crews, street closures and mosque visitors while looking forward to the benefits promised by new development in our neighborhood.
Mr. Voncannon, a neighborhood activist, may be contacted at dvoncannon@pacbell.net
