Town Plaza, arguably Culver City’s centerpiece of its downtown renaissance, will have a new design when construction finally begins on the 115,000 square foot mixed use project.
At a Dec. 21 special meeting, the City Council voted to approve a new design will include a ramp, a driveway and an underground tunnel off Culver Boulevard and Main Street and a redesign of the public parking that will serve Town Plaza, also known as Parcel B.
The former entrance was at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Ince Boulevard.
Combined Hudson and Pacific are the developers of Town Plaza, which is now several years in the making.
Approval of the design and a series of new agreements will also bring 240 additional parking spaces to Parcel B.
“There is still much work to be done to finalize these designs. We will be working with the developer(s), architects and design professionals to complete that task over the next five to six months,” said City Manager John Nachbar.
Combined Properties will now commence work to complete the detailed construction drawings, which Nachbar said is a significant expense, for their building on Parcel B.
“Combined now has the confidence to proceed with that expense since the City Council approved the construction contract,” he said.
One potential drawback in the new design is that traffic now will be directed to the front of the project and could minimize the pedestrian element that the council has emphasized.
Groundbreaking could occur in approximately six months if all goes well, according to Nachbar.