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Development Dilemma: The Two Faces of Canoga Park

Development Dilemma: The Two Faces of Canoga Park By SLAV KANDYBA Staff Reporter Some plans are in the works to develop Canoga Park, but don’t tell that to the owner of Hollywood Motor Corp. he doesn’t see it on his side of town. In fact, the picture that Steve H. Assil paints is dramatically different from that of business owners and officials who are involved in the redevelopment efforts of Canoga Park’s so-called “Antique Row,” a stretch of antique shops and other specialty stores along Sherman Way between Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Canoga Avenue. Assil, who owns an auto sales shop on Roscoe Boulevard that provides cars and trucks for use by Hollywood studios, has not seen improvement. He said he notices gang activity, graffiti, and generally, unkempt streets in an area that is home to many other auto repair and auto body shops. “Sidewalks are dirty, no one ever cleans,” Assil said. “There’s a lot of graffiti Canoga Park isn’t like it used to be.” A few minutes’ drive from Hollywood Motor is a study in contrast. The Antique Row is within the borders of the Canoga Park Business Improvement District, an area targeted for development and therefore, eligible for city funding. “We’re revitalizing the area (it) has turned around quite a lot in the last few years,” said Mary Paterson, the executive director of the Canoga Park Improvement Association. “It’s virtually free of graffiti. We’re being very clean and safe and supporting the businesses that are here.” Meanwhile, Assil said he is unable to leave his cars and trucks parked in his parking lot nearby, in fear of having them vandalized, which has happened before. He called the L.A. Department of Water and Power to install lights on the street where the lot is located, but that hasn’t helped much. Assil, a San Fernando Valley entrepreneur since 1986, has owned and operated an Italian restaurant and a chain of video stores. He sold them and opened an auto repair business in Simi Valley, but relocated it to Canoga Park in 1998. Since then, he has shut down the repair shop, but still sells cars to the public and prepares vehicles for use in Hollywood films. Several auto repair shops remain in the area, but Canoga Park lost Bob Smith BMW to Calabasas in 2002, when the luxury car dealership decided to relocate closer to its customer base. The BMW dealership has been located at Topanga Boulevard and Vanowen Street since 1973. Study in contrasts The situations of the auto repair shops and the Antique Row couldn’t be more different, but they illustrate the uneven development in the area. The vision for the Antique Row, Paterson said, is to develop a “little walking district” complete with restaurants, art galleries and such, to revolve around the renovated Madrid Theatre which advocates hope to make a landmark cultural drawing card in the Valley. This is the kind of commercial development envisioned for Antique Row even if the antique shops go away. “We’re seeing a decline in these stores due to (competition from) eBay,” said John Parker, president of the Canoga Park Improvement Association and partner in Canoga Park-based Parker Brown Inc., a general contracting firm. “When people retire they may not want to bring their businesses back,” Paterson said. “We’re putting together a team of people from a variety of groups and governmental agencies to attract businesses to the area. We’ve been very lucky because we have low vacancy rates.” Parker said the BID’s goals now are to attract businesses to the area through advertising and marketing on cable TV and local publications, as well obtaining funds from the Community Redevelopment Agency of L.A. to build a parking structure to accommodate theatre-goers and visitors. The goal is “to continue to keep the place safe and clean and attract new businesses,” Parker said. “We’d like to see more restaurants.” An attempt to lure travelers to Canoga Park via a boutique hotel called The Alexander Hotel didn’t go very far. The hotel was closed in December 2003, a little more than a year after opening. The reason: low occupancy. Nothing major So far, no major new development projects are off the ground. A developer was interested in building a retail plaza on the corner of Canoga Avenue and Sherman Way with a Starbucks Coffee and other retail stores, Paterson said. But nothing has come of that so far. As the Antique Row undergoes development, Canoga Park will have another challenge how to overcome the stigma of being in the shadow of Woodland Hills, Paterson said. Although it’s not an easy task, Paterson said she believes it is do-able. “I think it’s incremental,” she said. “As people come here, they’ll spread the word. We’ll have to continue doing this.” Meanwhile, Assil is bothered by the fact that his part of Canoga Park has been neglected. He cited a hole dug for a tree on the sidewalk in front of his shop that remained just that a hole. Any positive changes would be welcomed by him. “Any improvement in Canoga Park will change people’s thinking,” he said. Canoga Park -Local business owners to meet with representatives of Mayor Hahn’s office and CRA officials in October. -Canoga Park BID renewed with 65 percent stakeholder (property owner) approval, August 2004 -Beverly Hills-based Sterling Real Estate Group is preparing to build a shopping plaza on the northeast corner of Sherman Way and Canoga Avenue. No leases have been signed, but Starbucks Coffee, Quiznos Subs and Avis have expressed interest.

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