Who Said Shrink? I Didn’t, Says Champion About South Sepulveda Project

Not until a short but significant prefatory speech by the main magnet in the project, the man in the center ring.

Before his team of architects — communicating in architect-speak — could launch into their dreamy-eyed description of converting the working-class neighborhood into a glamourous destination, the developer Bob Champion once again catapulted himself toward the spotlight.

Hardly for the first time, he announced he had been misunderstood about his intentions.

Unflappable

A charismatic, unrufflable showman as well as a businessman, Mr. Champion addressed a half-full audience in the Rotunda Room at the Vets Auditorium, about 30 residents and nearly as many (20) professionals who are directly involved in the South Sepulveda teardown and rebuild.

He said he wanted to correct erroneous impressions that appeared in print after last week’s maiden meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee.

One Person at the Top

Throughout the five months the proposed redevelopment of 12 1/2 acres of the west side of South Sepulveda has been debated in public meetings, Mr. Champion’s personality and opinions often have transcended the contents of the rebuild.

For the last two months, persistent indications from City Hall and from Mr. Champion himself have held that only the southern block, one-third of the total project, will be built by his company.

Project Is a Process

The rest may or may not be developed at a later date.

“What I would like to make clear,” Mr. Champion began as he stood before the crowd with a hand-held mike, “is that I see this whole project as a process by which the community can give input on how to revitalize the Sepulveda corridor.

“This is a process where we all learn, and we all come to a (common) conclusion about what is best.

Wrong Information?

“It was reported in some newspapers the project had been shrinkwrapped and that there were financial issues. I want to go on record saying those comments are not true.

“What I said at the last meeting, what I have said to the papers and what I am saying to you now is, I was asked to create a vision for the Sepulveda corridor, which I did.

Making a Commitment

“I always anticipated it would be done over a series of phases.

“I would love to develop all the phases of the project. As a result of the several meetings I have participated in, I have learned some concerns the community has about it.

“I have learned of concerns businesses have about relocating, about the massing (sheer size) of the project, about all being done at one time.

Final Verdict

“This prompted me to say in the last meeting I would like to build all four phases as they are planned out.

“But that would be left to the final discretion of the City Council.

“I felt confident we would be delighted to build the first phase, and any subsequent phases we were directed to build.

“What that final decision is, I have communicated to both the Redevelopment Agency and the City Council, they need to give me direction.”

A Story in Pictures

When it was the turn of the architects, from the firm KTGY of Santa Monica-Irvine-Oakland-Denver, the presenters approached their tasks with the lip-smacking relish of an ice cream man serving up heaping cones to starving children.

With practiced artistry, they stroked engulfing, seductive word pictures of their mixed-use project.

In power-point form, their descriptions were reflected on a large screen at the front of the room.

Smoothing the Edges

They emphasized architectural nuances and subtleties, the ubiquity of trees. They said trees and other organic props will soften the impact of a neighborhood undergoing a breathtaking visual and substantive transition.

While raving about the planned presence of one anchor tenant in each of the four phases, with four floors of residential above and all parking invisible from Sepulveda Boulevard, the architects said the blend of commercial and residential, while stunning, will, at the same time, be unobtrusive.

They paused often to analyze in the sunniest, most promising terms, a planned 30,000 square foot plaza at the southern tip, the corner of Sepulveda and Jefferson.

Couldn’t Please Everybody

Concerns about increased traffic, density and scope were raised, and answered to the satisfaction of some. Not all.

Store owner Peter Messinger is convinced traffic will increase exponentially, no matter how nicely the upgrades and expansions are phrased.

“You can’t add a minimum of 5,000 to 10,000 cars, 800 housing units, double the retail space, put in two traffic lights and convince me that traffic will not be much worse than now,” he said. “I don’t care what Champion says.

A Broader View

As for the meeting itself, the professionals and the curious dialogued for three hours, one more than scheduled, which, observers agreed, was a positive sign.

Because of the tender, sensitive feelings of directly-affected business owners and residents, one member of the nine-person Citizens Advisory Community anonymously offered her evaluation.

Changing Direction?

“When I came into the first meeting last week,” she said, “my mind was wide open. I really did not have a strong opinion about whether it is good or bad or otherwise, even though nearly everyone else seems to.

“Now,” she said, “I am seeing some movement. This Champion is a charismatic fellow. He won some people over.

“This is feeling, more and more, like a congenial project. This could take off and really happen.”