The long promised transformation — gentrification sounds nicer —of a wounded commercial focal point in West Culver City officially began at last night’s meeting of the Redevelopment Agency.
On a night of spectacular triumph for Agency Chair Scott Malsin, a cluster of residents, formerly exasperated, actually cheered when the hometown development team was unanimously approved for remaking the twin northern corners of Washington Boulevard and Centinela.
Once the corners are refurbished, neighborhood activist Robert Pine said the busy intersection will morph from “blight to a gateway.”
The Old and the New
Mr. Malsin, the aggressive and effective leader of West Culver when he is not sitting on the dais, could hardly help raving over the coming attractions.
To replace the once planned, heavily protested five-story building that likely would have overshadowed, if not eclipsed, the intersection, the builders have promised slimmed down sleekness.
With an accent on green and open space on the opposing corners, the builders envision “a low-density, neighborhood-friendly multi-use project comprised of separate residential and commercial buildings. Five 3-story townhomes and 2-story commercial buildings are projected. A coffee house for the northeast corner and “one or two unique full-service restaurants” are planned, plus other “quality retailers.”
Zen Comes to West Culver
“A Zen modern look” is the way Mr. Malsin describes the strictly modern green building plans with particularly distinctive roof designs for the two “complementary corners.”
“They are the right size, exactly in scale with the neighborhood,” says the City Councilman.
Seven years of disappointments have not converted West Culver neighbors into cynics. By now they have learned to distinguish between hollow City Hall pledges and reality, it seems.
Last night’s unusually happy scene marked the first occasion within memory that neighbors applauded a development project instead of trying to stifle it.
Memories Sailing Away
The broken promises about two eyesore corners that face each other would be tree-top tall if they were stacked up. But those bitter memories are fast receding in the rear-view mirror.
Not only are the northwest and the northeast corners of Washington and Centinela on the ledge of being rebuilt, creatively, there is the kind of news that cements foundations on collaborative projects. For the first time since February of ’01, the whole team — City Hall, the builders and the neighbors —is singing the same tune. They seem to like each other and to believe in each other.
What Used to be
Before the properties were razed, residents were suspected of booing every time they passed through the large intersection, so achingly ghastly were the gas station on one corner and the downscale liquor store/market across the street.
Scarred and bleary-eyed, City Hall could be pardoned this afternoon for feeling like a much-married, prune-skinned person who has weathered the worst of blows. Bloodied though it may be, City Hall has washed up, is refreshed and ready to fight again.
Or was City Hall the culprit all along?
Even if some residents think so, the moment was too joyous last night to squander energy on possible recriminations.
Builders Build Confidence
David Paris and David Reiss, the builder team, were in Council Chambers. No strangers to the neighborhood, just down Washington, they built The Alibi Room, The Del, The Brig and Beechwood.
The Agency told neighbors that if they thought those late-model designs have propped up West Culver City’s once sagging image, wait until the two designated corners begin blossoming later this year.
Just Mr. Paris spoke, and then only after an ever-so-slight coaxing from the dais .
Taciturn, introspective and modest, he made a most favorable impression on the activists in Chambers with his manner and message. He probably captured their hearts for keeps when he declared his eagerness to huddle with — especially to listen to — the three affected neighborhood associations. “Anxious to hear their ideas,” was the way he put it, which sounded better than a lottery victory to concept-rich residents.
Excitement Is Soaring
Mr. Malsin, upbeat at all times, said he was “thrilled” that the two corners are scaled to size for the neighborhood where he is raising his family. He hopes this project will mark the Redevelopment Agency’s permanent departure from outsized redevelopments of the recent past.
“The scale of this project is proof we do not have to pursue large projects,” Mr. Malsin said. “Areas of Culver City that have attracted nationwide attention are those that have maintained the scale of their surroundings, East Culver City and Downtown.
Change in Philosophy
“At last, we are putting our money where our mouth is. We went to the development community and we said, ‘Tell us what you are going to build and what you will pay for it.’
“This model is a much more businesslike approach than what we have been doing. We did not take the highest offer, which was close to $10 million. The one we accepted was closer to $8.5 million. But it is just the size and kind that we have wanted.”
