It might be the longest development process in Sherman Oaks history. The redevelopment of a rundown stretch of Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks has hit yet another snag despite years of working with neighborhood groups and city officials to get the project built. The Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association has appealed a decision to approve the project, an 88-unit condominium development with ground floor retail between Ventura Boulevard and Moorpark Street at Hazeltine Avenue. The appeal hearing is scheduled to take place in September. Laing Urban, a division of John Laing Homes that specializes in infill locations, received approval for the project, dubbed Mosaic, in June. Although the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council has thrown its support behind the project and city officials have given it their support, the homeowner group contends that more traffic mitigation and parking is needed. It’s even revisiting the premise of the development. “We question whether the San Fernando Valley, with its suburban lifestyle, is suited to condominium living,” said Ellen Vukovich, who oversees SOHA’s land use committee. But the debate over Mosaic did not begin with the current appeal. The project site was first identified for residential development in 2002 when PCS Development, a builder of luxury rental apartments acquired it. PCS went through years of talks with various neighborhood groups, downsizing the project considerably from its original size of more than 150 units in order to respond to the neighboring community. But by the time the project, for 118 rental units was approved, the market for luxury rentals had softened, and PCS sold the entitled parcel to Laing, which builds condos as well as single-family homes. Laing downsized the project to total 88 condo units, increased the parking allotment and conducted new traffic studies, said Dana Yogel, vice president of development for Laing Urban. It also hired new architects and brought the community back in to work on upgrading the design of the building fa & #231;ade. “I feel very comfortable that this is a good project for people in the community,” said Rick Mayer, a Sherman Oaks resident who chairs the land use committee for the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council. SOHA contends that the community has changed since the original 118 units were entitled. There are now many more development projects either under way or in the pipeline in Sherman Oaks, and the solutions developed a few years ago will no longer suffice for current conditions. But something else has happened as the development process has unfolded. John Laing Homes was acquired by Emaar Properties, a Middle East real estate development company that is controlled by the Dubai government. And some think that has spurred the homeowner group to bring the project back to the drawing board. “There was a flyer passed around at our board meeting, and the flyer basically was saying they’ve got deep pockets and they should be doing anything we want to have,” said Mayer. Vukovich’s response is, why not? “For a city so starved for traffic mitigation, this is a developer that clearly has the funds,” Vukovich said. “That’s the position we’ll be taking. Tell us why you can’t pay for this. The more you mitigate the better.” But for Laing Urban, it’s starting to look like a developer just can’t win. “When PCS went through this project, there were three concerns,” said Yogel. “Can you make it condos? Can you make it less units? Can you make it more attractive? All of which we’ve done, and it’s still not good enough.”
