A developer has been selected to build a new retail complex on the vacant lot at 9300 Culver Blvd., Culver City, also known as Parcel B. After extensive public input, city officials weighed the bids of four competing development firms and chose the team of Combined/Hudson Pacific to develop the location.
The developer received support from concerned residents prior to the City Council vote on the matter, particularly for its community-friendly design. Meghan Sahli-Wells, president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, noted that the staircases in the design will provide places for people to sit and interact. The Combined/Hudson Pacific plan also seemed to showcase the Culver Studios Mansion better than those of the competitors.
The consensus among the standing-room only crowd at City Hall seemed to be that the city choose a developer and get the ball rolling. Longtime residents Steven Rose and Julie Lugo Cerra each told the council that they needed to make a decision, while recounting the dismay they feel about seeing a dirt lot in the city they call home (and have for well over a century between the two of them).
The Redevelopment Agency, chaired by Vice Mayor Scott Malsin, voted unanimously in favor of the project. Mayor Micheal O’Leary pointed out that the long-awaited development called for a degree of compromise and he joined his fellow councilmen in voting yes.