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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

The Big Coverup

Glendale has long been a leading office and retail destination, even though the downtown is bisected from its larger hotels and wealthier residential areas by a freeway. Now, the city is seriously looking at a fix that could cost $500 million and expand park space, draw more shoppers and create a conference center – all by covering up several miles of the Ventura (134) Freeway with a 28-acre cap. The problem? Businesses might have to agree to some sort of an assessment in order to get it done. Dubbed “Space 134,” the freeway cap park is modeled on existing parks in San Diego, Dallas and Seattle, and calls for 28 acres of downtown to be turned into bike trails, an outdoor theater and a conference center. Eventually, there could also be a reconfiguration of the retail properties surrounding the park to support shoppers it would draw to high-trafficked areas. The draft of the plan was funded by a grant from the Southern California Association of Governments, but the kind of cash needed to begin acquiring land rights and building the park isn’t exactly in a safe at City Hall. Proposals for finding the necessary funding include state and local government grants, or the possible creation of a business improvement district or assessment zone. And while local businesses certainly could see some benefit, not many are willing to fork over money to see it happen. “We’ve always been pretty opposed to any sort of business license tax and that might really make a difference to us and the businesses in the area,” said Judith Kendall, chief executive of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce. But the project is still in its planning stages, and, city officials and plan designers say, if done right, the hefty price tag can be split between many different sources. “We’re looking at additional government grants, we’re looking at private donors, we’re looking at assessments, we’re really looking at everything,” said Alan Loomis, Glendale’s principal urban planner, who has been working with an outside firm on the project’s feasibility study. “But an assessment or a business improvement district will have to be something we look at.” Evolving city The project came out of the Southern California Association of Governments’ Compass Blueprint program, which funds local studies that explore creating open spaces and transit hubs. An initial proposal brought to the City Council in March outlines a project that covers 28 acres from Glendale to Central avenues, and includes bike trails, a reconfiguration of retail space and outdoor sports facilities. “This plan really shows what could work there, in that space, to bring a really downtown and pedestrian feel to the area,” said Melani Smith, a principal at Los Angeles design firm Melendrez Design Partners, contracted to develop the first plan. The idea is to build the park in sections, spanning more than 20 years of construction and development. The first phase would create a “green loop” around what will eventually be the park. It calls for art displays, bikeways and bicycle share stations and walking paths. Planners estimate it will take five years to construct, although some work would be ready for public use in as little as a year. The second phase –the first to actually cover the freeway – is at least five to 10 years out. It creates two small parks: the first between Central Avenue and Brand Boulevard and the second toward Howard Street, swelling the project to 15 acres. It’s during this stage that planners want to add Glendale Pavilion at Brand Park, which will be able to host events and business meetings. “That is one of the ways that we saw that the park could end up being a revenue generator for the city, and could help pay for maintenance of the park,” said Smith. Eventually, the final parcel will bring together the two smaller parks, and include a music space, a large lawn, digital studios and perhaps even a Ferris wheel. Yes, a Ferris wheel. “Obviously this is very early, none of this is set in stone,” Smith noted. But while planners acknowledge the project could change many times over during the lengthy build, they say the development, even in its earliest forms, will have benefits for Glendale beyond just the aesthetic. “This could have a huge benefit for the neighborhood and the businesses here,” said Loomis, the city planner. “With the addition of the conference center, it just might change the dynamic of the area – being able to have events there or in the very large plaza could be a great event venue to draw people to the area. There are certainly hotels in the area who would like to see more people.” But before it can start generating revenue, the project has to be funded. Funding the future More studies are on the way before final approval, and the city’s planning department is applying for grants to pay for that, including one from the Southern California Association of Governments, which paid for the work done on the initial proposal. Melendrez will finish the final report on the plan by June, and later this year the planners say they will begin reaching out to the community. But grants alone aren’t going to cover the hefty price tag, which includes more than just construction costs. According to Smith, one of the biggest yet-to-be-determined expenses will be purchasing air rights to the proposed site from CalTrans, which owns all the airspace above freeways and highways it maintains. An exact cost of purchasing those air rights is unknown because it hasn’t been done before, she said. “Right now, the only option for it is to lease the rights, and they’re revocable at any time,” she said. “But there is a lot of momentum for that policy to change, so we’re hoping this project will be able to benefit from that.” Regardless of the exact cost, it’s sure to be high, and funding sources are likely to include either an assessment district, in which an additional tax is levied on neighboring land parcels to pay for a project; or a business improvement district, into which area businesses would pay to support the upkeep of the neighborhood – including the park. Officials say this is something they will discuss with businesses as they begin to move into the community input phase of planning. Kendall, from the chamber of commerce, said the group looks forward to getting more details on the planned funding sources. “We really need to see something more from them before we can make up our mind on the project,” she said. But a direct answer might not be forthcoming quite yet, as planners say they are looking at every option. “There are a lot of next steps,” said Loomis, the planner. “And we’re going to have to talk to businesses and residents and we’re going to have to look at funding. But any one of these large-scale projects is going to need funding from a lot of places.” Neighboring La Canada Flintridge completed its Memorial Park, a one-and-a-half acre park atop the Foothill (210) Freeway early last year, and it’s been well-received. But that project cost under a million dollars, and was paid for largely by state and federal grant money. So far, though, it’s the only such park in Los Angeles County to be completed. Proposals are on the table for freeway caps in Hollywood, downtown and Santa Monica, but they don’t come cheap. The Hollywood proposal makes Glendale look frugal. With an estimated $1 billion price tag it would span 44 acres and cover the Hollywood (101) Freeway from Santa Monica Boulevard to Bronson Avenue. And even if Glendale is able to secure the funds somehow, the park is far from a sure thing. The Hollywood proposal was supported by the Los Angeles City Council in 2008, and at the time, advocates said they could break ground in 2012. But funding issues, as well as concerns over traffic and other issues, delayed the plan. Supporters have had to struggle through multiple fundraising efforts to pay for required studies and plans. Still, one longtime Glendale business figure believes that all efforts should be made to get the park built, saying it would transform the city and greatly benefit businesses. “It would be huge for downtown, and well-received, because we have no park in that area of Glendale at all,” said commercial real estate broker William R. Boyd Jr., a senior managing director at Charles Dunn Co. in Glendale who has worked in the city for decades. “And there has been a lot of new residential development that could benefit from that. And some developers have deep pockets.”

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