New residents may help boost local economy
by cynthia lee
ucla today staff
Business owners and area residents are hoping that the completion
of UCLA’s Weyburn Terrace on the west side of Westwood Village
and the development of Palazzo Westwood on the east side will breathe
new life into the ailing local economy.
After more than 20 years of stalled and failed development proposals
for the area around Weyburn and Glendon avenues, Westwood finally
has a plan in hand, approved by the Los Angeles City Council last
month after three years of negotiation.
“It’s a very positive outcome,” said Laura Lake,
co-president of Save Westwood Village, an alliance of merchants
and residents. In the compromise that Councilman Jack Weiss helped
to broker, the Palazzo developer, Casden Properties, agreed to scale
down the initial plan, preserve boarded-up Glendon Manor and keep
Glendon Avenue open during construction.
“It’s not as wonderful as we would have wished. As
in all compromises, we gave up some and we gained some,” Lake
said. “My hope is that the area will come back to what it
was, a true village that serves the community — the residents,
the UCLA students, the people who work here.”
With both Weyburn Terrace and the Palazzo project contributing
more walk-in customers, the village, pockmarked by vacant storefronts,
should benefit, she said.
The first phase of the newly opened Weyburn Terrace will add 840
units housing 1,380 graduate students to the neighborhood, while
the $100-million Palazzo Westwood will add 350 upscale apartments
and a number of new merchants.
“Having people in the village 24/7 will help a great deal.
But solving the lack of free parking is the real key to a turnaround,”
Lake said.
The Palazzo developer will build two structures, one on each side
of Glendon Avenue, with ground-floor retail space and, above that,
rental apartments. On the west side will be 32,000 square feet of
retail space and on the east side 18,000 square feet. There will
be two levels of subterranean parking on the west side and three
on the east, in addition to ground-level parking. A tunnel under
Glendon Avenue will connect the parking levels. Built in the 1920s,
Glendon Manor will be refurbished for apartments and a tenants’
health club. Excavation at the site has already begun.
To win approval, the developer agreed to particpate in a villagewide
program to provide limited free parking with validation. If such
a program doesn’t exist when the buildings open, the developer
agreed to provide two hours of free public parking for a year.
Building on that momentum, Jeff Abell, a business leader and owner
of a jewelry store, said he will meet with Weiss’ staff to
discuss a villagewide parking program. “I’m going to
give it my best shot,” said Abell, a strong proponent of past
efforts to provide validated parking.
Despite the inevitable headaches of construction, the project will
ultimately have a positive impact on the village, Abell said. As
for Weyburn Terrace, “having all those students so close to
the village will be wonderful. When I was a student at UCLA, I loved
coming into the village,” Abell said.
To introduce the new Weyburn Terrace tenants to village businesses,
UCLA’s Office of Local Government and Community Relations
staff has put together a brochure listing shops and restaurants
and offering discounts from participating merchants.
|
