Final City Council Approval Still Needed on Casden West L.A. Project

Last minute changes approved Friday restrict retail use from 5,000 to 15,000 square feet, enough for coffee shops or restaurants.

That means previous plans by the developer to include a Target store and a supermarket, which opponents thought would bring in too many outside visitors to the area, were scuttled Friday, though some speculate a smaller grocery store could still fit.

Changes were also made to the residential portions of the project, with the original 638 residential units scaled back to 595. Of those, 11 percent will be set aside as affordable housing for seniors.

The maximum height of the buildings also was reduced from 17 stories to 10.

Fifth District Councilman Paul Koretz, whose district includes the project, urged his colleagues to approve the project.

"I think this is a good compromise," he said. "It cuts the project back substantially. It cuts back the impacts very dramatically." 

Right before taking office as the 11th District's city councilman, Mike Bonin voiced some skepticism about transit-oriented development, a designation sought by the Casden West L.A. project, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The development borders Bonin's district, where numerous constituents use Pico and Sepulveda boulevards as alternate routes. It's also a district bordering the city of Santa Monica, an area already seeing plenty of large scale development. 

Bonin warned that an overwhelming amount of high density housing around transit stops, and in this case the Expo Light Rail line, could dissuade Westside voters from extending an existing transportation tax. 

Before the project's scale-down, Koretz and Bonin's predecessor, Bill Rosendahl, said Casden West L.A. would exacerbate current traffic congestion levels with its close proximity to the 405 and 10 freeways.

Mayor Eric Garcetti, still a member of the City Council, did not vote on the project, though he was present for other parts of the meeting.

If the project is given final approval by the council, Garcetti would have the authority to veto or sign off on the project from the mayor's desk.

Casden Spokesman Brian Lewis, said they were "impelled to modify" their proposal due to community complaints about traffic.

Lewis said they met with opponents of the project over the past two weeks to come up with a project that was more agreeable to the community. 

Casden Properties also faced threats of lawsuits from community groups, alleging the projected illegally included Metropolitan Transportation Authority land, about two acres, as part of its project size. 

Several opponents of the original project, which included representatives of neighborhood councils, urged approval of the project under the new terms, expressing satisfaction that traffic impacts would be reduced.

Under the original plan, traffic congestion problems at 22 intersections around the project were deemed unfixable. The approved plan takes that number down to six.

What would have been an estimated 13,700 car trips a day traveling to the project site has now been reduced to about 3,000.

"While we continue to believe that a transit-oriented development is the type of smart growth that the Westside needs, it is infeasible to build such a project on just four acres of land," Lewis said. "Instead, we are moving forward with what we are confident is a sensible project for the site, and meets the surrounding community's concerns." 

For more information on the project, visit  Casden's website. 

What do you think of the scaled down project proposal?