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Marina Del Rey Tower Is Proposed |
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October 11, 2006 Background: Christopher A. Joseph & Associates is preparing the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Platt Marina project. Lead Agency: City of Los Angeles Project Applicant: Marina del Rey Tower Daily Breeze October 11, 2006 By: KRISTIN S. AGOSTONI Trendy lofts. Rehabbed shopping centers. New waterfront apartments. Now add one more project to the burgeoning list of buildings that are rising -- or that builders hope will rise some day -- in and around Marina del Rey. Developers wanting to take advantage of marina views and nearby shops and restaurants have pitched a 31-story tower where the Marina (90) Freeway dead ends at Lincoln Boulevard, bringing 158 new condos and nearly 3,200 square feet of retail space to the busy commercial stretch. The company pitching the soaring 366-foot-high building on land in the city of Los Angeles -- MDR Tower LLC -- has billed the project as a "smart growth" plan with a sleek design and affordable housing units, encouraging sidewalk traffic rather than street congestion and easy access to the freeway. Plans call for bulldozing the existing Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car shop and including a residents-only fitness center, spa and pool atop a 408-spot parking garage. "We do think this project (demonstrates) smart growth. It's near retail outlets so people can actually walk to the market," said Alisa Karlan of the government relations firm Cerrell Associates, which is doing community outreach work. "We're trying to reduce any visual impacts," Karlan said. "When we were looking at this project, a conscious decision was made to make this a more slender tower, to reduce the massing along Lincoln Boulevard." The environmental review process has just gotten started, but even in the early stages, the tower planned at 4363 Lincoln Blvd. is struggling to find fans. Despite promises that new residents will walk to a nearby Ralphs Fresh Fare and cross the street to shop at Villa Marina Marketplace, Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl argues that the development shouldn't be approved. He called the design "insular" and "unfriendly" in a statement and said the tower "does not meet the spirit and vision of inclusion that is so prevalent in the Venice area." "Although I am working to bring light rail to Lincoln Boulevard, that advance in mass transit is still many years away," he stated. "Meanwhile, this segment of Lincoln is in gridlock most hours of the day." In fact, county officials are eyeing the Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car lot as part of a proposed plan to relieve clogged intersections in and around Marina del Rey. In March, the county Department of Public Works held informational meetings about extending the Marina (90) Freeway past Lincoln Boulevard to Admiralty Way, allowing motorists to bypass the busy thoroughfare on their way to the water. Of the three paths being studied, the one dubbed the "Northern Alternative" would turn the rental car lot into the bypass and demolish the existing building -- just as developers have proposed for the high-rise. "Should that (freeway) alternative go forward," Karlan said, "it would preclude us from developing that site." But if the tower wins approval and county officials ultimately pick one of the other two freeway links, already choked intersections will only have more cars to handle, said Barry Kurtz, a transportation engineer working as a consultant for the county Department of Beaches and Harbors. "Traffic is just getting more congested in this area," he said. "And projects like this just exacerbate it. ... It's such a small site, and the driveway would just be a mess over there." Mark Winter, a board member with the nearby Marina Peninsula Neighborhood Association, argues that the latest development propo- sal is indicative of the "fragmented" approach to planning on the Westside, whether on city land or county-owned waterfront leaseholds. "The city and county do not coordinate well together for the benefit of area residents," he said. "This means that residents must take the lead in deciding what appropriate development really means in Marina del Rey." Don Klein, whose Coalition to Save the Marina has been vocal in recent redevelopment efforts, agreed. "Density, traffic, noise pollution. This area is already overbuilt," he said. Jonathan Riker, a city environmental review coordinator, said he expects that a draft environmental-impact report will not be released for several months. The development would include one-, two- and three-bedroom condos, of which 10 percent would be set aside for low-income buyers. (Copyright 2006 Daily Breeze) |
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