The Highland Park Adult Senior Citizen Center was filled to capacity on Thursday evening as community members gathered to learn more details about the proposed Highland Park Transit Village project, which would convert three public parking lots behind North Figueroa Street into mixed use residential properties.
Among the main concerns raised by community members were the reduction of 225 LADOT parking spaces, the height of the structure and the potential impact on local business.
However, while the developers faced their share of criticism and difficult questions from the community, several in attendance said they thought the project's scaled back design would bring much needed affordable housing to Highland Park and raise property values.
According to preliminary designs provided by McCormack, Baron, Salazar on Thursday, the three properties, comprising 80 residential units, would each offer a mix of reserved residential parking and LADOT public parking.
The concern among some of the presentation's attendees was that the public parking provided by the project would not be enough to fit the communities needs.
"My concern, during the construction, and after it's completed, is parking," said Miguel Hernandez, owner of Antigua Bread on 5703 North Figueroa St. "They have three bedroom units, with one parking spot. Where's everybody else going to park? If you multiply 80 units, by two cars, that's 160 parking spots being taken. So, I'm going to be losing customers."
Richard Zaldivar, Executive Director of The Wall Las Memorias, said that the city needs to devise a plan to allow residents of the properties to pay a reduced rate for parking at the on-site LADOT meters, so they would not be forced to park on the along the nearby residential streets.
"You're going to have a lot of parking on the side streets, simply because people don't way to pay," Zaldivar said.
Lisa Duardo, an Echo Street resident, expressed concern about the design of the properties. She noted that, while they were described as being only three stories tall, the 18-and-a-half foot tall fourth story essentially meant the properties would dwarf nearby buildings.
Daniel Falcon Jr., Senior Vice President of McCormack, Baron, Salazar, responded that the structures' A-frame designs, an aesthetic choice made by the designer, extended the height of the third stories.
There were other questions raised by attendees about what McCormack, Baron, Salazar would do to give back to the community in exchange for the potentially negative impact to business caused during the construction period.
Paul Bonsell, a member of the Historic Highland Park Neighorhood Council (HHPNC), asked if a community center could be built. Falcon responded that such a concession would likely be a part of the final project.
HHPNC member Latiffe Amado asked what plans McCormack, Baron, Salazar had plans to invest in local public services.
"We know what we do well, we develop real estate and manage real estate," Falcon said. "We are not a public service provider."
Gigi Szabo, an Avenue 57 resident, was one of meeting's attendees who spoke out in favor of the project, lauding it for bringing in affordable housing and making use of LADOT parking lots she considered a "waste of space."
According to the MacCormack, Baron, Salazar presentation, 20 of the units would be market-rate condos. The remaining units would be designated as affordable, and be priced based on prevailing incomes in the neighborhood.
For example, a household earning $24,800 to $57,500 per-year could rent a three-bedroom unit that houses 4-6 people for between $650 to $1,300 per-year.
"It's smart growth, it's next to transit, it's not high density. 80 units on three different sites is not high density. We could be getting market rate condo-development that's five stories high and costs $2,000 a month and gentrifies the neighborhood. What we're going to get is development that is beautifully designed and help maintains Highland Park as a mixed income community."
Speaking after the meeting, HHPNC Vice President Hector Heuzo said he was pleased that the developers were on hand to provide community members a more concrete plan of the project, which has been nearly five years in the making.
However, he still had some lingering questions about the project's environmental impact and it's impact on parking and traffic.
"There are still a lot of questions left to answer," he said.
Whats the point? The point is that not everyone lives within walking distance to the station and the bus is often not fast enough to insure getting to the station on time. Does anyone here read & think before they write?
What's more environmentally-friendly? Driving a mile to park by the station and take the light-rail to Long Beach or driving 30 miles to get there? The Atlantic Station has a garage, there's a huge lot at the Universal Red Line station. Park and ride is normal. "LOL" indeed.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=copenhagen&ll=55.676015,12.574292&spn=0.00036,0.00125&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Copenhagen,+Denmark&gl=us&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=55.676018,12.574141&panoid=n_TttCVVfpzu43D2NruKfg&cbp=12,328.08,,0,3.57 The place should be built out of materials and in such a way that it requires as minimal as possible external inputs of electricity and water, and their should be an integrated grey-water management system. The building should require $0 in public subsidy, loans, "relief", etc. but should be given prompt attention and assistance by all city staff involved in the project to allow permitting to not cost the builders any more than necessary. If you can't make a profit doing it this way, don't do it.
Transit oriented development has created activity around the South Pasadena and Pasadena's Del Mar and Memorial Park stations. Highland Park retail has been in decline for the 50 years I have lived here. Highland Park has failed failed as an area to drive to and park.
Building dense housing next to the Gold Line Station will bring the people to convenient shopping and transportation. Creating a walkable neighborhood will reduce overall congestion by eliminating automobile trips. Local congestion around the Highland Park business district is not necessarily a bad thing because it indicates that people want to be there.
Next, why would the City of LA enter into negotiations with the developer leasing the city owned lots for FREE for 99 years open for re-negotiations. I'd like to know which of the current players will be available for the re-negotiations? It's like the current $1.00 a year lease on the Police Museum. Who actually benefits? Does anyone see truck loads of children, adolescents, or adults on the premises other than the occasional filming company? Why did the City of LA agree to such a lease? It's time the City of LA made such concessions for our youth! How about a Boys and Girls Club? As for Ed Reyes - "Don't Let The Door Hit You On The Way Out!"
"What’s a transit village and why would we want one here? A transit village, often called transit-oriented development or TOD, is a district with frequent public transit, taller buildings, a mix of commercial and residential, and a lot of people walking." "Studies have found that people who live in transit villages use their cars less and walk and take public transit more. This more urban lifestyle is attractive to a lot of people, although not to everyone, of course. Although conventional wisdom tells us that you have to have a car to live in Los Angeles, one in six households in the City have no car at all. A transit village would be a smart choice for the 57% of households in the City that have one or no car at all." "Reducing the minimum parking requirements or setting maximum parking requirements around major transit stops lowers the construction costs of development. Less parking also encourages transit use by making it less convenient and more costly to drive. (See http://www.livableplaces.org/policy/parking.html Rethinking Parking)"
That's what you call high density, "affordable" units, these days. All Parking currently avilable is being moved underground. In addition to Parking Avilability for new residents for 2 cars per unit. Yeah, you don't need a car to live in L.A. Sure... just take the bus, or ride your bike! btw, not having bike lanes doesn't prevent people from riding their bikes down Figueroa. I rode all the way to the beach before, no problem. I doubt people point to bike lanes and say, "Oh boy! Bike lanes! Now I can ditch the car!" A Housing Tenement beside the train tracks. That's what this is.
Transit village is code for future slum as it will be destroyed by the tenants within 5 years. This project is purely based on money. No one in their right mind would have originally thought putting a 100 unit low income housing structure would be good for the neighborhood. And low income is code for "welfare cases." It's going to be two giant steps backward.
The parking lots upon which the housing would be built are currently underused and wasteful. The large number of shuttered storefronts between Avenue 55 and Avenue 60 are a testament to the failure of the Highland Park business district to attract automobile customers. The Gold Line has had increasing ridership which has led to increased frequency of service which recently has included weekends. Train ridership is bound to increase with the opening of 6 new stations to Azusa and the connection through the Regional Connector to the business district and the Blue Line all the way to Long Beach.
housing. A working family living in affordable housing is more reliant on public transportation and is perfect for housing adjacent to the transit station. These families are also more likely to walk to the stores in the Highland Park business district. It is a perfect match between tenant and neighborhood.
The reason there is a parking requirement is because of the area specific plan. The usual requirement of 2 parking spaces per unit is allowed to be reduced to 1 parking space because of the proximity to the Gold Line Station. The newly approved Cornfield Arroyo Seco Specific Plan ( http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/12/no_parking_required_in_plan_for_chinatowns_cornfield_area.php ) for the area between the Gold Line Heritage Square Station and Union Station has no parking requirement. Market forces are allowed to determine the amount of parking built. Since a parking space costs $30,000 to $40,000 for below-grade garages a developer is more likely to build less than 2 parking spaces per unit.
The building style is a good fit for a neighborhood with over 3000 homes built before 1920, which is among the highest in the county. A hypermodern structure would be out of place in the neighborhood.