VENTURA COUNTY | Development News

[saiholmes]

Officials mark the expansion of California 23
The section of highway between Thousand Oaks and Moorpark gets a third lane in each direction. Project is completed more than a year ahead of time.
By Francisco Vara-Orta, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 18, 2008

After years of planning and funding delays, Ventura County transportation officials Thursday formally marked the opening of traffic lanes that expand the frequently congested California 23 from four to six lanes.

Although the lanes have been in use for a month, the unveiling symbolically marked the final stretch of the $65-million highway improvement project for the 7 1/2 -mile leg that extends from Hillcrest Drive in Thousand Oaks north to the bridge near New Los Angeles Avenue in Moorpark.

California 23 now has an additional lane in each direction in the median, wider bridges, and new sound walls expected to significantly reduce vehicle noise in adjacent neighborhoods, officials said. Cables have been installed underneath the pavement to provide real-time traffic data to the California Department of Transportation.

Traffic on California 23, which connects the Ventura and Ronald Reagan freeways, has grown from an average of 87,000 daily vehicle trips in 1995 to more than 99,000 today, according to Caltrans. The freeway's expansion will help handle a projected 35% increase in traffic over the next 25 years, officials said.

Construction started in June 2006 and is expected to be completed by June, nearly 14 months ahead of the scheduled opening in fall 2009.

"Basically, what allowed the quick finish was that the sound walls, which normally would have been built at night, were able to be built in the daytime," said Judy Gish, a Caltrans spokeswoman.

"So we were able to keep the lanes open, and that allowed the work to proceed as traffic went by."

Finishing touches that remain to be done include the installation of an electronic message board on the southbound lanes near the Olsen Road onramp, officials said. The board will include incident information, weather advisories and "Amber alerts."

Also, landscaping the freeway expansion with oak trees will begin in a few weeks, Gish said.

Transportation planners first noticed an increase in California 23 traffic 17 years ago and began designing an expansion in 1996, officials said. But state budget woes prompted legislators to divert gas tax money to other transportation programs, stalling plans.

The project, paid for with a combination of state and federal transportation money, finally got the green light in August 2005 when the state Transportation Commission approved $48.3 million for construction.

[Nacho87]

Developer's plans for apartments at wharf spark concerns

Just about everyone who attended Monday's open house by the new developer of Fisherman's Wharf said they'd like to see the Channel Islands Harbor property rebuilt, but not many were excited about the developer's plans for as many as 800 apartments on the site.

EMC Development, which was awarded the lease last year on the county-owned property, presented its preliminary designs to their largest public audience yet at Monday's open house.

About 120 people packed a conference room at the Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Resort in Oxnard to hear EMC's vice president and the project's architect discuss their plans, and to give them an earful of questions and comments afterward.

The plans that EMC displayed were similar to the ones it showed last fall to homeowners associations and business groups in the harbor area. They call for a full redevelopment of the 11-acre property, with as many as 800 apartments, 143,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, a wide public promenade along the waterfront and most of the parking underground.

A mixed reception

One new detail revealed Monday is the "working title" of the project. EMC refers to it now as "Waterfront Channel Islands Harbor," or Waterfront CIH, rather than Fisherman's Wharf.

"What we have at Fisherman's Wharf now is broken," said EMC Vice President Derek Jones, referring to the empty storefronts and crumbling buildings. "What we are proposing, we think, is a lot better."

His reception was mixed, at best.

There were gasps and groans from the audience when he discussed the size: three to four stories of apartments on top of one story of commercial buildings, topping out at a maximum of 60 feet.

"With everything you've shown us, I still can't get past the magnitude," said Janey Anderson of Hollywood-by-the-Sea. "It's huge; it's out of scale for the area."

"When people hear the numbers they kind of freak out," Jan Hochhauser, the project's architect, acknowledged. He said he took many steps to keep it from appearing intimidating, including setting it back from the street and breaking up the mass of the buildings with courtyards and walkways.

Jones said that 800 units represents the most that the company is considering. The project can't be scaled back too much, he said, because the stores and restaurants won't succeed without a "critical mass" of people living nearby.

"The last thing we want is to have more empty shells of stores in the site we're redeveloping," he said.

Theadora Davitt-Cornyn, who lives in the harbor at the Paz Mar Apartments, said she understands EMC's concerns but still wishes they would trim the project a bit.

"It looked overbuilt for that site," she said. "I think it has to get smaller."

'Wish list' of stores

Davitt-Cornyn said her own "wish list" of stores in the new center includes Trader Joe's and Whole Foods — stores that she knows won't come to the harbor without some residential development. Perhaps, she said, EMC could build 500 or 600 apartments instead of 800, taking the project down by a full story.

Apart from the sheer size, the open house attendees were most concerned with traffic. The corner of Victoria and Channel Islands Boulevard is already congested, and EMC will have to pay to correct any additional traffic problems that its development causes.

"That's the first thing I see, is the traffic jam," said Earl Beck of Hollywood-by-the-Sea. "We have one lane each way into Silver Strand. Can you imagine if there was a tsunami and everybody had to get out?"

EMC's plans are still on the drawing board and won't be submitted to the county of Ventura until late 2009 at the earliest, Jones said. After that, they must be approved by the California Coastal Commission.

"Realistically, we're talking about the early part of 2011 as a best-case scenario before we get something really operational," he said.

[Nacho87]

Developer's plans for apartments at wharf spark concerns

By Tony Biasotti (Contact)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Just about everyone who attended Monday's open house by the new developer of Fisherman's Wharf said they'd like to see the Channel Islands Harbor property rebuilt, but not many were excited about the developer's plans for as many as 800 apartments on the site.

EMC Development, which was awarded the lease last year on the county-owned property, presented its preliminary designs to their largest public audience yet at Monday's open house.

About 120 people packed a conference room at the Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Resort in Oxnard to hear EMC's vice president and the project's architect discuss their plans, and to give them an earful of questions and comments afterward.

The plans that EMC displayed were similar to the ones it showed last fall to homeowners associations and business groups in the harbor area. They call for a full redevelopment of the 11-acre property, with as many as 800 apartments, 143,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, a wide public promenade along the waterfront and most of the parking underground.

A mixed reception

One new detail revealed Monday is the "working title" of the project. EMC refers to it now as "Waterfront Channel Islands Harbor," or Waterfront CIH, rather than Fisherman's Wharf.

"What we have at Fisherman's Wharf now is broken," said EMC Vice President Derek Jones, referring to the empty storefronts and crumbling buildings. "What we are proposing, we think, is a lot better."

His reception was mixed, at best.

There were gasps and groans from the audience when he discussed the size: three to four stories of apartments on top of one story of commercial buildings, topping out at a maximum of 60 feet.

"With everything you've shown us, I still can't get past the magnitude," said Janey Anderson of Hollywood-by-the-Sea. "It's huge; it's out of scale for the area."

"When people hear the numbers they kind of freak out," Jan Hochhauser, the project's architect, acknowledged. He said he took many steps to keep it from appearing intimidating, including setting it back from the street and breaking up the mass of the buildings with courtyards and walkways.

Jones said that 800 units represents the most that the company is considering. The project can't be scaled back too much, he said, because the stores and restaurants won't succeed without a "critical mass" of people living nearby.

"The last thing we want is to have more empty shells of stores in the site we're redeveloping," he said.

Theadora Davitt-Cornyn, who lives in the harbor at the Paz Mar Apartments, said she understands EMC's concerns but still wishes they would trim the project a bit.

"It looked overbuilt for that site," she said. "I think it has to get smaller."

'Wish list' of stores

Davitt-Cornyn said her own "wish list" of stores in the new center includes Trader Joe's and Whole Foods — stores that she knows won't come to the harbor without some residential development. Perhaps, she said, EMC could build 500 or 600 apartments instead of 800, taking the project down by a full story.

Apart from the sheer size, the open house attendees were most concerned with traffic. The corner of Victoria and Channel Islands Boulevard is already congested, and EMC will have to pay to correct any additional traffic problems that its development causes.

"That's the first thing I see, is the traffic jam," said Earl Beck of Hollywood-by-the-Sea. "We have one lane each way into Silver Strand. Can you imagine if there was a tsunami and everybody had to get out?"

EMC's plans are still on the drawing board and won't be submitted to the county of Ventura until late 2009 at the earliest, Jones said. After that, they must be approved by the California Coastal Commission.

"Realistically, we're talking about the early part of 2011 as a best-case scenario before we get something really operational," he said.
Comments

[Nacho87]

Originally Posted by Nacho87

Developer's plans for apartments at wharf spark concerns

By Tony Biasotti (Contact)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Just about everyone who attended Monday's open house by the new developer of Fisherman's Wharf said they'd like to see the Channel Islands Harbor property rebuilt, but not many were excited about the developer's plans for as many as 800 apartments on the site.

EMC Development, which was awarded the lease last year on the county-owned property, presented its preliminary designs to their largest public audience yet at Monday's open house.

About 120 people packed a conference room at the Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Resort in Oxnard to hear EMC's vice president and the project's architect discuss their plans, and to give them an earful of questions and comments afterward.

The plans that EMC displayed were similar to the ones it showed last fall to homeowners associations and business groups in the harbor area. They call for a full redevelopment of the 11-acre property, with as many as 800 apartments, 143,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, a wide public promenade along the waterfront and most of the parking underground.

A mixed reception

One new detail revealed Monday is the "working title" of the project. EMC refers to it now as "Waterfront Channel Islands Harbor," or Waterfront CIH, rather than Fisherman's Wharf.

"What we have at Fisherman's Wharf now is broken," said EMC Vice President Derek Jones, referring to the empty storefronts and crumbling buildings. "What we are proposing, we think, is a lot better."

His reception was mixed, at best.

There were gasps and groans from the audience when he discussed the size: three to four stories of apartments on top of one story of commercial buildings, topping out at a maximum of 60 feet.

"With everything you've shown us, I still can't get past the magnitude," said Janey Anderson of Hollywood-by-the-Sea. "It's huge; it's out of scale for the area."

"When people hear the numbers they kind of freak out," Jan Hochhauser, the project's architect, acknowledged. He said he took many steps to keep it from appearing intimidating, including setting it back from the street and breaking up the mass of the buildings with courtyards and walkways.

Jones said that 800 units represents the most that the company is considering. The project can't be scaled back too much, he said, because the stores and restaurants won't succeed without a "critical mass" of people living nearby.

"The last thing we want is to have more empty shells of stores in the site we're redeveloping," he said.

Theadora Davitt-Cornyn, who lives in the harbor at the Paz Mar Apartments, said she understands EMC's concerns but still wishes they would trim the project a bit.

"It looked overbuilt for that site," she said. "I think it has to get smaller."

'Wish list' of stores

Davitt-Cornyn said her own "wish list" of stores in the new center includes Trader Joe's and Whole Foods — stores that she knows won't come to the harbor without some residential development. Perhaps, she said, EMC could build 500 or 600 apartments instead of 800, taking the project down by a full story.

Apart from the sheer size, the open house attendees were most concerned with traffic. The corner of Victoria and Channel Islands Boulevard is already congested, and EMC will have to pay to correct any additional traffic problems that its development causes.

"That's the first thing I see, is the traffic jam," said Earl Beck of Hollywood-by-the-Sea. "We have one lane each way into Silver Strand. Can you imagine if there was a tsunami and everybody had to get out?"

EMC's plans are still on the drawing board and won't be submitted to the county of Ventura until late 2009 at the earliest, Jones said. After that, they must be approved by the California Coastal Commission.

"Realistically, we're talking about the early part of 2011 as a best-case scenario before we get something really operational," he said.
Comments

sorry wrong article
but this is the correct article for those two previews drawings of the proposed High rises in Oxnard
Ventura County Star
By Charles Levin (Contact)
Sunday, April 22, 2007


Size matters. So does location.

Plans for high-rises in Oxnard stand a chance, experts say


That's why the Port Hueneme City Council last week rejected a 46-story condominium and hotel complex near the beach.

But size and location also explain why two other high-rise tower projects in Oxnard might work, experts said last week.

The tallest of six proposed towers is 37 stories, while four of them are smaller and within city guidelines. Also, both complexes — with three towers each — would stand close to Highway 101 near two precedent-setting, high-rise office buildings.

"We're talking apples and oranges," said Michael Faulconer, principal of Ventura-based Faulconer & Associates and a Ventura planning commissioner.

In Port Hueneme, the 46-story Pacific Pointe tower was slated for a small city-owned parking lot at the end of Surfside Drive. The only thing around it would have been two- and three-story condominiums.

"Port Hueneme is a local, small beach side community that cherishes its character and sense of place," said Faulconer, who also sits on Oxnard's Downtown Design and Review Committee. "Neighbors are fearfully defensive of that and rightfully so."

In fact, council members and opponents frequently cited community character as a sticking point during Wednesday's hearing with more than 300 in attendance.

In Oxnard, it's a much different story.

At the city's dilapidated Wagon Wheel area, Orange County-based Oxnard Village Investments LLC has proposed up to three condominium high-rises of 20 to 25 stories. Down the block at the former Levitz furniture store, San Diego-based Avion Development LLC hopes to erect three towers of condominiums ranging in height from 19 to 37 stories.

"Density is appropriate near the infrastructure that supports it, like freeways and Metrolink (rail) stations," said Chris Williamson, an Oxnard senior planner. He added that Wednesday's decision by the Port Hueneme City Council did nothing to disturb ongoing consideration of either proposal.

Costs of materials higher

Building a high-rise in Oxnard is not without precedent. The Topa Financial Center office towers — 14 and 21 stories, respectively — stand nearby on Vineyard Avenue right off the highway.

Perhaps more important, Faulconer noted, is who would live in the Port Hueneme project. Ventura-based developers Harvey Champlin and Ray Mulokas described their target market as empty-nest baby boomers, lured by dazzling views of the Channel Islands.

But building more than four stories requires concrete, steel and elevators — not sticks and bricks — which raises the costs of materials and condominiums, Faulconer noted.

"A lot of people in this county, let alone Port Hueneme, wouldn't be able to afford to buy one," he said. "You'd have to be wealthy and from out of the area to come to Port Hueneme."

While Pacific Pointe would have catered to baby boomer retirees from out of town, the Oxnard towers might lure empty-nesters who still work and could afford the condos.

In fact, Avion's project targets retirees and members of Generation X, young adults born in the 1960s and '70s who are starting families.

Champlin and Mulokas originally proposed a 20-story building on the 1.4-acre parcel in Port Hueneme. In 2005, council members embraced the idea and opened negotiations, but the yearlong agreement lapsed without action. Then last November, the developers returned with the 46-story tower project, potentially the largest structure between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Champlin could not say whether he had a better chance with the smaller building. Developing a tower close to the beach was a "riskier location" that required "political courage," he said after Wednesday's hearing.

Up to 25 stories allowed

The state's Coastal Commission looks askance at building homes near the shoreline, Champlin said, but the commission might have welcomed a hotel under coastal policies that emphasize so-called visitor services, he said.

Champlin said the tower would have generated about $2.2 million a year for the city, more than half from hotel bed taxes. However, opponents and council members saw the project as way out of scale for the neighborhood. While some praised the tower's sleek, modern design, they questioned what hotel guests would do in Port Hueneme after they'd walked on the local pier.

"There's no other uses to support another high-end hotel" down there, Oxnard senior planner Williamson said.

Oxnard's tower proposals, however, would stand in the northern tip of Oxnard and the heart of west Ventura County's economic engine.

To the east of Wagon Wheel is Esplanade and Topa Financial Plaza. Housing is going up at RiverPark, just north of the highway where a Whole Foods Market will open in a commercial shopping center. And the city's auto mall lies one exit east on Highway 101.

Moreover, city guidelines allow buildings up to 25 stories, and all but two of the six meet that criteria, Williamson said.

‘Strong public participation'

Champlin agreed that the Oxnard proposals stand better chances of approval, partly because of location. However, the vote in Port Hueneme "will send a message to both projects to anticipate strong public participation," Champlin said.

He chalked up the volatile opposition to a countywide mentality that gives ordinary citizens more voice in how communities grow.

"The public feels more empowered and emboldened to take land-use decisions into their own hands, for better or worse," he said, a reference to growth-control laws that require popular votes to approve certain developments. "We're in a climate of opposition, in general. I'm not sure there's any short-term solution."

Vince Daly, a manager with Oxnard Village's Wagon Wheel project, said he believes such laws are here to stay.

"I think we have to embrace the climate and work with community groups," said Daly of Westlake Village.

So far, no formal opposition has surfaced to either of the Oxnard tower projects. Both must undergo environmental reviews. City officials must consider whether developers can reduce any identified traffic problems, Williamson said.

On Tuesday, the Oxnard City Council will consider authorizing negotiations on the Wagon Wheel project. An environmental impact report is expected to be released sometime this summer, followed by a Planning Commission hearing. Construction would take three to five years.

Construction on the first Avion tower would take about 20 months, but it's unclear where the proposal is in the city's planning pipeline. Avion President and Chief Executive Officer Doug Austin could not be reached for this story.

‘Keep providing housing'

The debate over building towers also raises the question of where people will live as Ventura County grows.

Growth-control laws are designed to protect agriculture and open space, while keeping urban sprawl at bay. However, births continue to outpace deaths.

High-density towers are still a viable option, Faulconer and others said.

"Somewhere we have to absorb the natural growth rate," Faulconer said. "We have to keep providing housing, and the only way you can do that is to build up."

[LAsam]

This would certainly make those two towers in Oxnard off the 101 look a little less lonely!

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by Metro - Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

The buck starts here: Caltrans recruiting public input for plans to improve north corridor of scenic rail line to San Luis Obispo

Read More: http://thesource.metro.net/2011/01/0...n-luis-obispo/

[ElDudarinodotcom]

CI boating center plan clears last legal issue
Construction may start this summer

By Kathleen Wilson
Ventura County Star
Posted January 19, 2011 at 10:09 p.m.

More than 10 years after a master plan called for a boating instruction center at Channel Islands Harbor, officials say construction is finally near.

Lyn Krieger, director of the county-owned harbor near Oxnard, said ground could be broken by summer now that the last open lawsuit has been resolved. Completion is expected in a year to 18 months.

“It’s finally going to be built,” Krieger said.

First proposed in 1999 and designed in 2001, the project has been delayed for years as critics complained in public hearings and in the courts. They objected to loss of trees where herons nest, the size of the structure and its location on the west side of the harbor.

Both regulatory and legal issues have been resolved since then, but the plans for the building are outdated.

Last week, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors agreed to pay a Santa Barbara design firm up to $364,327 to revise the plans. The changes are needed partly to reflect current building codes, Krieger said in a letter to the board.

She also said interior spaces must be reconfigured because the California Coastal Commission required the structure be rotated 90 degrees from the original design to save trees.

Supervisor John Zaragoza of Oxnard said Tuesday that he expects the project to boost business at the harbor. The attraction desperately needs economic revitalization, Zaragoza said.

“We have worked on it for such a long, long time,” he said of the center. “We need this.”

Depicted in drawings as the Channel Islands Boating Center, the facility will offer a boat storage area, exhibits and instruction in boating and other aspects of the marine environment.

Plans show a map of the ocean floor around the Channel Islands that will be etched into the sidewalk or granite, plus a three-dimensional model with old shorelines of the islands and shipping lanes.

An exhibit planned for the second-story deck shows an underwater shipwreck of the Winfield Scott. The steamer went down in 1853 and left 400 passengers stranded on Anacapa Island.

The boating center is designed to open boating and other aspects of sea life to a wider audience of people under the management of CSU Channel Islands.

The Board of Supervisors’ action should be one of its last involving the center. Krieger said the board will receive an agreement with the university governing operations and construction in the spring but otherwise should not have to act before the groundbreaking. The university is charged with awarding the construction contract.

“We’re very happy to get to this point in the process,” she said.

The project is expected to measure around 17,000 square feet and cost about $7 million. It will be financed through private donations and fuel taxes collected from boaters around the state, Krieger said.

Jonathan Ziv, president of an environmental group that sued over the project, said the center is still no certainty. He questions whether Krieger will get the money from fuel taxes.

“She’s going to be in line for that money like everybody else,” said Ziv, president of Habitat for Hollywood Beach.

The fuel taxes come through the state Department of Boating and Waterways. Spokeswoman Gloria Sandoval said the money for the center is not in the agency’s budget for 2011-12 pending the redesign.

Krieger, though, said state officials have assured her the approved project is of the highest priority.

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jan/...t-legal-issue/

[ElDudarinodotcom]

Supervisors approve VCMC construction project

* By Tom Kisken
* Ventura County Star
* Posted January 25, 2011 at 7:14 p.m.

Ventura County supervisors approved a $250 million hospital wing construction project Tuesday that one official tabbed as likely the county’s biggest construction project of the century.

The project, forced by changing state seismic standards, will replace parts of Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura built in the 1920s and 1950s. Supervisors told staff to continue to work to reduce the size of the building — still in pre-design stages — and minimize the impact on views of neighbors, who are already suing the county over a 90-foot-tall clinic complex.

The project will likely encompass about 200,000 square feet and will include about 120 beds. It will house operating rooms, imaging, intensive care and obstetrics, also allowing the county to expand its emergency room. Construction could start in the summer of 2012 and be completed in 2016.

It will likely be the biggest project county government will tackle in the next several decades, said Phil Nelson, director of engineering services for the Ventura County Public Works Agency.

“I can’t think of anything else that would be bigger,” he said.

Supervisors unanimously approved the concept of the project but will still have to OK a design-and-build contract as well as the actual design. On Tuesday, they made it clear they want parts of the building to be shorter than originally planned.

County officials held a community meeting with hospital area residents earlier this month in an effort to gather input before the building is designed. Tuesday, they presented possible revisions to original plans with part of what was envisioned as a three-story building shrunk to two stories.

Led by Supervisor Steve Bennett, the board directed staff to stay on that path, keeping the peak height of the building that stretches north away from Loma Vista Road to a maximum of 65 feet. In that same building, areas where there is not a mechanical enclosure atop the three stories should be no taller than 51 feet.

The two-story part of the building will likely be the part that extends farthest north and will be about 35-feet tall, said Nelson. After the meeting, he also reiterated early assurances the county has no plans to build a parking structure on the hospital campus — another worry of area residents.

Bennett emphasized the importance of keeping the new project at least 75 feet away from the property line of houses just to the east of the hospital.

Jackie Moran, who lives near the hospital and is a leader of the lawsuit over the five-story clinic project, walked out of the Tuesday meeting feeling encouraged if not entirely convinced.

“I am cautiously optimistic that this is going to work,” she said.

But residents still worry about the size of the project, the sound and the lights. Moran also told the supervisors she’s not convinced the construction is exempt from state environmental impact requirements, citing the unique setting of a hospital building in a coastline area where it could intrude on scenic vistas.

County officials say the project is exempt from environmental impact requirements because it replaces existing structures and isn’t an expansion.

Supervisor Peter Foy cited the project’s impact on the economy, noting that nearby Community Memorial Hospital is also planning hospital construction because of seismic mandates.

“This is going to be tremendous for the economy and great for jobs,” he said.

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jan/...ction-project/

[ElDudarinodotcom]

Ventura council supports condo plan
Negotiations rights for parking lot OK'd

By Kevin Clerici

The Ventura City Council sided with safe over splash this week when it came to granting exclusive negotiating rights to a city-owned parking lot downtown.

After considering two bids, the council voted 5-2 Monday to go with the proposal they feel has the best chance for immediate development: 29 terraced condominiums with public parking underground at Poli and California streets.

The other bid called for a four-story, high-tech hotel near California and Main streets, with 88 upscale apartments behind it. That idea drew oohs and aahs, but it would have required demolishing Bank of America at California and Main, something the building’s owner — Bank of America — has not stated it is willing to do.

The proponents asked for six months to work out an agreement with Bank of America, but the council majority, led by Councilman Mike Tracy, rejected the idea.

Councilman Bill Fulton favored the hotel, while Councilman Carl Morehouse favored neither proposal.

“I like the idea of ownership downtown,” Tracy said, referring to the condominiums. “In my mind, it seems to me that project is more doable than the other.”

Georgino Development’s condominium project doesn’t call for the participation of Bank of America.

“Tonight, we are trying to decide what to do with our parking lot, which is the only thing we control,” Councilwoman Christy Weir said. “We tried (with BofA), but we haven’t had much success in getting them to the table.”

Because the city’s redevelopment agency controls the parking lot, it can be made available for development via a public bidding process.

The Georgino group now gets exclusive negotiating rights as it works to submit a formal application to the city. The exact number of condos in the layout will be known at that time.

Because of the housing bust and Wall Street meltdown, financing for market condominiums is tight, officials said. But Economic Development Manager Sid White assured the council that Georgino “has the financial wherewithal” to do the project, estimated at about $18 million. Still, White cautioned, “I don’t think he will move forward right away.”

Georgino built the complex that houses the Century Downtown 10 movie theater and other businesses on Main Street.

Sandy Smith, land-use consultant for Georgino, said the developer’s past successes and proven relationships with banks work in his favor. “We’ve said all along that he’s capable of moving forward with financing,” Smith said.

The Ventura Chamber of Commerce didn’t state a preference for either proposal, but urged the council to make a decision.

The City Council heard from both sides on multiple occasions last year and repeatedly postponed a decision.

There were no public speakers Monday because the council heard from citizens in December. A majority of speakers at the time favored the hotel and high-end apartments. City staff also favored the hotel.

The hotel proposal was a joint venture of developers Harvey Champlin Associates and Mark Hartley, as well as property owners David Thomas, Rick Beers and Wayne Befort.

Champlin declined comment after Monday’s action.

Mayor Fulton, who sees the hotel as a better fit for downtown, felt the group deserved six months to try to get Bank of America on board.

Meanwhile, Morehouse wanted more analysis and was interested in putting the lot back out to bid to see what other concepts might emerge.

“Just because someone promises condominiums doesn’t mean that always winds up happening,” Fulton said. “Condos flip to apartments and vice versa, depending on the market.

“I think financing for either project is questionable. Generally speaking of the market, it’s easier today to get financing for apartments than condos.”

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jan/...nd-parking-at/

[ElDudarinodotcom]

Demolition begins on Wagon Wheel Motel and Restaurant

By Kevin Clerici

The dilapidated rooms at the Wagon Wheel Motel and Restaurant in Oxnard were no match Wednesday for an excavator and its oversized bucket intent on tearing the place down.

Barring a setback, the aging roadside rest stop built by late developer Martin "Bud" Smith in the 1940s should be leveled by Friday, according to the development firm that controls the prominent property at a gateway to the city, near Highway 101 and Oxnard Boulevard.

Plans call for the 64-acre area that extends well beyond the Wagon Wheel site to be renovated with a large-scale development...

...The proposed renovation development, dubbed Oxnard Village, calls for about 1,500 homes, including two 25-floor apartment towers, affordable housing, a transportation center and office space. The concept recently was recognized by the state for its innovative mix of development...

Full article: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/mar/...eel-motel-and/

[QuarterMileSidewalk]

Awesome news! I've got to wonder, though, how likely it is that those towers actually go up... Fingers crossed!

[PinkFloyd]

source: vcstar.com

Moorpark officials approve movie studio
By Michele Willer-Allred
Posted October 5, 2011 at 11:08 p.m.

The Moorpark City Council on Wednesday night gave the unanimous go-ahead for a new movie studio complex proposed for the west end of the city.

In front of a packed house at City Hall, the council approved a conditional use permit and a development agreement, among other things, for the 559,450-square-foot Moorpark West Studios complex.

The development agreement would need final approval by the council on October 19.

Construction could take at least three years, officials said.

Triliad Development, Inc., on behalf of Los Angeles Avenue, LLC, filed the application for the project, which will include 12 sound stages, three office buildings, 18 studio support buildings and 1,696 surface parking spaces on about 44 acres on the north side of Los Angeles Avenue, west of Gabbert Road.

The conditional use permit allows a slight increase in the city’s building requirement of 60 feet. The council also approved a general plan amendment to change the land use designation on approximately 10.75 acres from commercial to industrial.

The developer agreed among other things to changing the two-lane Los Angeles Avenue, which fronts the project site, to four lanes along with turning lanes. A new signalized intersection would also be added by the developer at Los Angeles Avenue and the future North Hills Parkway.

According to the environmental documents such as the mitigated negative declaration approved Wednesday, the widening of Los Angeles Avenue and the addition of an intersection would mitigate traffic impacts from the project. Lights from the project site would be fully screened and face down.

Valerie Draeger, president of Thousand Oaks-based Triliad, said hundreds of jobs will be created. It would bring 400,000 hours of new construction jobs and the effect on local businesses in the area would be great, she said.

Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/oct/...#ixzz1a32Vj7W3

[pesto]

Interesting. It seems a bit remote (I don't go that far north of 101 or beyond Simi). Were they getting a good deal on land out there? I know that Ventura Cty. is growing, but this is still way out there, isn't it?

[ElDudarinodotcom]

Originally Posted by pesto

Interesting. It seems a bit remote (I don't go that far north of 101 or beyond Simi). Were they getting a good deal on land out there? I know that Ventura Cty. is growing, but this is still way out there, isn't it?

Moorpark is really only about 10 min from Simi Valley and about 15 min off the 101 from Thousand Oaks. The land certainly isn't cheap, but there is a lot more of it.

[ElDudarinodotcom]

Channel Islands Harbor boating center to break ground Friday

By From staff reports
Posted October 11, 2011 at 2:16 p.m., updated October 11, 2011 at 5:48 p.m.

Thirteen years after they proposed it, Ventura County officials will break ground Friday on a boating instruction and safety center at Channel Islands Harbor.

Harbor Director Lyn Krieger said the $6 million project will provide 100 construction jobs over the next year. The attraction, named the Channel Islands Boating Center, is due to be completed by next October.

The project has been delayed for years as critics fought it at public hearings and in the courts. They objected to a loss of trees where herons nest, the size of the structure and its location on the west side of the harbor.

The regulatory and legal issues now have been resolved. In January, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors agreed to pay a Santa Barbara design firm up to $364,327 to revise the plans. The changes were needed partly to reflect current building codes, but also to comply with the California Coastal Commission's ruling that the original design be rotated 90 degrees to save trees.

The groundbreaking for the center is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday next to the Ventura County Maritime Museum and Whale's Tail Restaurant.

The boating center is designed to open boating and other aspects of marine life to a wide audience, under the management of CSU Channel Islands.

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/oct/...nter-to-break/

[QuarterMileSidewalk]

I'm glad the Moorpark movie studio is being built on actually vacant land, and not on farmland, as so many past developments have been.

[desertpunk]

We in New Mexico have been getting some film strudios but only one even comes close to this beast in Moorpark and it's probably not even that big a deal out there.

[ElDudarinodotcom]

Freeway 'cap' could reunite downtown with the ocean
By Arlene Martinez
Posted July 7, 2012 at 8:51 p.m.



In pre-Highway 101 days, the city of Ventura's neat grid of streets ended, at its southern point, at the ocean.

Getting to the beach from midtown was as easy as from downtown, and you didn't mind the short walk because it was the less fortunate people who lived nearest the water.

Then in the 1950s came Highway 101. The neighborhood known as Tortilla Flats was dismantled, and Chestnut, Fir and Ash streets dead-ended at the freeway. California Street became a narrow offramp, and the result was a large part of town separated from the beach.

Returning Ventura to what it was like before the highway split the town is at the center of an ambitious project to cover the freeway. Known as the "freeway capping" project, the idea is to roof over the freeway with asphalt, creating a tunnel three blocks long for highway motorists.

On top of it, a conference center, a transportation hub for trains and buses, and a mix of retail and commercial uses would go up.

Streets that now stop at the freeway would extend over it and a new road running alongside the ocean would give motorists greater convenience in flitting between downtown and a lively beachside strip...

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Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/jul/...#ixzz209RfkB5x

[CrazyAboutCities]

This freeway capping project will do good for both Ventura beach and its downtown area for sure. I lived in Ventura before (1994 to 2002) and used to go to beach by the pier while growing up there. It was not really pedestrian friendly area between pier and downtown. Hopefully this freeway capping will solve that problem and make it easier to get around.

[jcastro805]

Does anybody have recent construction pics of the Wagon Wheel and River Park areas?