Synopsis
About 6 weeks ago, I wrote about the Opus deal to buy Lot C (the property that Lowe’s wanted to build on) is now closed. Opus has built-in, contractual rights to the property. So long as they follow the rules, they can build out the maximum square footage. That said, Opus is open to hearing desires and suggestions from the community, and a meeting has been set up to do that.
Full Article
You may remember the Lot C update piece I wrote in mid-Dec. It’s at https://westlakerevelations.com/061213-LotCUpdate.html if you want to see that.
Deal is closed
That deal has now closed (beginning of Jan), and rumor has it that it sold for $37 million (quite a bit more than the $22-25 million that the developer had into the property). So, the developer did quite well on the property.
As I described before, Opus West has been interested in Lot C over the last four years. Opus West is part of the Opus Group and the office building developer who built the Farmer’s building near the Westlake Village City Hall.
The developer has rights
The property has already established entitlement rights. These rights are well defined, and so long as the developer lives within the entitlement rights and Westlake Village building standards, they can develop to the maximum of the rights. As you may remember from previous Westlake Revelations pieces, this includes 376,000 sq ft of office space up to 4 stories across multiple buildings.
Currently, the discussions are around a couple of office buildings, and a couple of restaurants … at least at this stage.
In a recent City Council Study Session, there was an entire discussion about whether the city can change the entitlements or development agreement on this property. The city attorney gave a background on how/why developers and cities started to use these types of agreements. In short, the city/developers can enter into these types of agreements to clearly define what the city expects, and what the developer expects … and the terms/rights are clearly established. That way, the projects can proceed without the risk of having “the rug pulled out from under them” as the saying goes. These development agreements are both contractual, and binding.
Opus open to listening to community
Now, while Opus does not *have* to take input from the community and the city, they have expressed interest in doing so. It would make sense that if the residents want something, and it makes sense for Opus to do, they would do it. But, everyone should have realistic expectations of it needing to be a win-win scenario for Opus to change from their current plans.
The city has organized a public meeting to facilitate communication between Opus and the Community. This meeting will take place at February 27th, at 7pm, at the Westlake Village City Hall.
At the meeting, Opus will explain their concept, and will listen to anyone from the community offering their concepts of what they’d like to see. I encourage anyone interested what will be developed here to partake.
Archives
I’ve been getting questions about reading the archives, and how to tell others to subscribe. All the posts are archived on the web site (www.westlakerevelations.com). These archives include writings on such things as:
- What’s up with “the wall”?
- Edison Rate Changes
- Mayoral Selection
- Lot C and Measure Z information
To subscribe, or make article suggestions — just go to the web site and click on the links. You can tell others www.westlakerevelations.com
Straw Polls
There are new developments coming up in February that we’ll be asking people to vote in our new straw polls. The results of these polls we’ll present to the city council as a way for the city to get larger scale input.
To prevent ballot stuffing, you will need to be on the Westlake Revelations mailing list to vote.