Public Comment on Century Plaza Hotel Development Plan Nears Deadline

A public comment period on a draft environmental impact report for the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza mixed development project will end Sept. 16, the latest step in a lengthy preservation battle.

Issues of traffic and pedestrian friendliness have emerged as top talking points since the report was released July 21. At least one community leader is voicing concern that the draft EIR keeps destruction of the hotel among its options.

Originally scheduled to end Tuesday, the comment period was extended to Sept. 16 to accomodate the lengthy document and the holiday weekend, according to Christopher Koontz, planning deputy for Council District 5.

Los Angeles developer Michael Rosenfeld bought the hotel in 2008. Originally, Rosenfeld planned to demolish the Century Plaza, which was built in 1966, and construct a building with both office and residential space.

But historic preservation groups, chiefly the Los Angeles Conservancy and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, fought back. Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz also threw his weight behind the preservation efforts, declaring demolishment would happen “over my dead body.” In February, the two sides reached an agreement.

Under the current plan, costing an estimated $1.5 billion, the 726-room Century Plaza Hotel would be preserved. Additional proposed development includes mixed-use add-ons of office and residential space, including two 46-story towers.

The development would be in compliance with the Century City North Specific Plan and would not require any zoning changes, said Barbara Casey, a spokesperson for hotel owner Next Century Associates. Rosenfeld is a real estate investor and leader of Next Century Associates.

Mike Eveloff, president of the Track 7260 Homeowners Association and a member of the Westside Neighborhood Council, said he was surprised that the destruction of the building is still included among the options. He said that leaves an undesired door open. 

“There’s no firm agreement on preservation here,” Eveloff said.

But that has not posed an issue for vocal proponents of preservation, including the Los Angeles Conservancy, which switched its support of the project after developers pledged to conserve the historic hotel building.

“What matters to us is that the preferred option, and several alternatives, do preserve the hotel,” Los Angeles Conservancy Executive Director Linda Dishman said in an e-mailed statement to Westwood-Century City Patch.

The projected impact on traffic is emerging as one of the most contentious points. Office space is dependent on the economy and the community's needs, and will have a "significant and unavoidable" impact on traffic flow, the draft EIR states.

But project developers say the integrated, mixed-use model will lead to fewer people on the road.

“There’s the thought that people will, if they work there, can eat there, shop there,” Casey said. “And the people who live there, same thing.” 

Local homeowners’ associations, however, are looking at the numbers very closely—and seeing a different story unfolding. The Westwood South of Santa Monica Homeowners Association has so far focused its energies on the traffic portion of the draft EIR and has yet to move on to other areas, said President Barbara Broide.

Broide called the traffic estimates “very, very understated.” She said the projected number of trips taking place within the development is unjustifiably high.

"That’s a major fault or flaw, in our mind, having to do with the EIR," Broide said. 

The report also states that it will not be possible to mitigate traffic impacts at the intersection of Beverly Glen and Pico boulevards, which Broide pointed to as a key concern for community members. 

“It’s very difficult to grow large projects at a time when traffic is gridlocked,” Broide said.

The association is recommending a more serious look at one of the alternatives presented in the draft EIR, a “reduced-density” option to decrease the size of the development by 25 percent, Broide said. 

In the February statement announcing the agreement between the conservation groups and Next Century, however, Rosenfeld points to more development on the site as a precondition of preserving the hotel.

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An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the end date of the comment period on the draft EIR. The comment period ends Sept. 16.