Hollywood
Zoned In
City approves rezoning for Arts Park Village
By Randy Abraham
A
controversial mixed-use project hailed as a potential boon for
downtown narrowly received initial rezoning approval, even as
city commissioners questioned its massive scale and height,
request for setback variances and almost total lot coverage.
City
commissioners approved the master development plan rezoning for
the Arts Park Village at 1740 S. Young Circle by a 4-3 vote
after a seven-hour discussion April 2.
The project —
located between Federal Highway and South 17th Avenue to the
east, from Harrison Street south to Van Buren Street — will
consist of a 25-story residential tower (which will tier down to
21 stories on the east side) with 437 condo units, 26,400 square
feet of ground-floor retail space, 58,500 square feet of offices
in an eight-story building, 672 parking spaces and a
107,700-square-foot arts and sciences charter school.
WSG Hollywood
Development Company took over the project more than a year ago
from developer Gary Posner after his failed HART District firm
failed to repay more than $3 million in Community Redevelopment
Agency loans to the city. In that time, developers have met
frequently with city officials and neighborhood representatives
about their ambitious plans.
The project’s
four-acre site currently houses the Hollywood Bread Building,
facing Van Buren and Federal Highway, and includes a block
facing Young Circle that is home to a liquor store and a
shuttered movie theater and restaurant.
The proposal
seeks a waiver from 25-foot side and rear setbacks with none on
Young Circle and Van Buren Street, and just three feet on
Federal Highway.
The city
reduced the minimum size of designated planned developments —
large-scale projects with zoning flexibility — from 10 to two
acres in the downtown district as an incentive for developers to
replace blighted conditions.
Downtown CRA
Director Neil Fritz recommended the project, saying it offers
“enormous opportunities” for downtown revival.
However,
WSG’s proposal exceeds recommendations that architect and zoning
consultant Bernard Zyscovich outlined in 2003. For example,
Zyscovich recommended a maximum floor area ratio of 3.75 versus
WSG’s 4-plus ratio, and a building height limit of 150 feet
versus WSG’s proposed 250-foot limit.
“We’d like to
see this building built,” said attorney Atkinson Wilson,
representing the Soho Lofts development just south on Van Buren.
“It will be a benefit, but not if parking is a concern. It
appears you’re trying to put too much in too small a space.”
WSG’s
attorney, Alan Koslow, countered that the size is necessary to
house the residential retail and office components, as well as
the charter school and parking for
Home
Tower.
Last year,
WSG entered into a development agreement with the city to
provide 1,000 parking spaces, but last week’s proposal contained
only 672 spaces. Home Tower, which was built in 1963 with no
on-site parking, had a parking agreement with the Hollywood
Bread building, which WSG has since acquired and which would be
demolished to make way for the proposed project.
Also at issue
is the charter school, which is temporarily being housed in the
Home Tower until it finds a permanent home. WSG proposes placing
the school in a free-standing building on the Village’s
southwest corner, with its playground atop its fourth floor. The
city is paying the school’s $270,000 annual rent until the
school relocates to a permanent site.
Commissioner
Heidi O’Sheehan said she had too many questions about the
project. She pointed out that the city’s agreement with the
developer calls for rebating WSG 90 percent of the tax increment
financing revenues as an incentive, with 30 percent of that
attributable to the developer’s agreement to house the charter
school. “If we’re giving $9 million for land, I’d like to know
who owns it,” she said, noting that “there’s no contract to
build the school.”
Lisa Maxwell,
from the for-profit firm Charter School USA, which has a
contract to run the school, said the title to the land would
most likely be held by the nonprofit foundation that holds the
school’s charter.
Afterward,
O’Sheehan said, “My concern is the development agreement differs
with the master plan, to the developer’s benefit. What is the
benefit to the city when the developer is getting $9 million?”
Commissioner
Patty Asseff said she thought the charter school would be a good
addition to the downtown area, with its close proximity to the
Young Circle Arts Park and the Hollywood Art and Culture Center,
but she added that it might be better suited nearby on
city-owned land, such as the parcel just west of the chamber of
commerce building at Polk Street and Federal Highway.
Ultimately,
only Commissioners Fran Russo and O’Sheehan and Mayor Peter
Bober voted against the proposal.
“The project
in its essence is all right, but there are too many elements. It
should be downscaled,” Asseff said. “I do think we need a
planned development there — you don’t want a hodge-podge — but I
have a problem with the height and there should be more parking
and setbacks. And no one wants 25 stories.”
