Roberts Business Park “Floats" Up to City Council



Tuesday night, the City Council discussed plans for Roberts Business Park – one of three projects making up the Mixed Use Creative District that will replace the aging buildings.

“It's not something that we're used to here...having literally vast areas that are under discussion for development,” said Mayor Richard Bloom. “It's an opportunity for us to some interesting planning.”

Tuesday's “float-up” discussion was designed to give City planners the advantage of Council input before they negotiate a Development Agreement (DA) with EDDG, Inc., the business park developer.

If approved, the Roberts Business Park will occupy the middle third of the block immediately south of Colorado Boulevard and east of Stewart Street. It will be sandwiched between the proposed executive headquarters for Lionsgate films and the Village Trailer Park.

After review by city planners and the Planning Commission, the project's architects have broken what were criticized as “boxy-bulky mass(es)” into smaller buildings surrounding a central plaza and walkways.

Current plans for the business park call for four structures ranging from four to five stories high on 2.8 acres of land.

The planned buildings house 250,000 square feet of floor space, including 120,000 square feet of creative, office and retail spaces and up to 170 residential units atop subterranean parking and a 10,000-square-foot gym.

After hearing from a handful of residents, including former Mayor Paul Rosenstein, it became clear that density and traffic are likely to be sticking points among the project's neighbors.

Public speakers also expressed concern that the three projects making up the mixed use district are at different stages of development and ought to be evaluated as a unit.

“We definitely need the area plan so that we can see how these projects all fit together,” said Rosenstein.

“The key tool is the creation of the Bergamot Area Plan,” said the Planning Department's Special Projects Manager Jing Neo.

The Bergamot Area Plan will provide guidelines City planners can use as they review projects in the area around the future Light Rail Station, but it isn't finished yet, Neo said. More community workshops have to be held and digested before it's done.

“As we hear feedback from the community...we take that forward as sort of draft direction and it helps to inform the evaluation of these projects as they're brought forward,” said Neo.

“What we hope to come out of this is community building for this next generation,” said Councilmember Pam O'Connor, after ruminating on the history of development failures and successes in Santa Monica.
Par LEDbicyclelight le vendredi 15 juillet 2011

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