News of any development on the Westside is known to stir up conversation, mainly due to the inevitable impacts related to parking and congestion in local neighborhoods. The Martin Expo Town Center project proposed for the intersection of Olympic Blvd. and Bundy Dr. is no exception.
This potential new mixed-use development is in the beginning stages of city-required processes and concluded a public comment period Jan. 30 after releasing a draft of its Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
The development seeks to revamp the existing Martin Automotive Group location, including the creation of a modernized dealership along with residential, retail, and “innovative work environments.”
“We had a need and desire to modernize our facilities, since our facilities here are about 40 years old,” said Dan Martin, operator of the Martin Auto Group. “Also, this is a response to the arrival of the Expo Line 500 feet from the corner of the property. These two factors led us to rethink the vision for the site and for transportation in general.”
Martin, whose family has deep roots within the West L.A. community as operators of the Martin Auto Group for three generations, spent a year focusing on community outreach in order to learn thoroughly about local needs. The leaders behind the project hope to continue treading lightly to ensure that they are taking into account all responsible feedback.
“We started this in February 2012 and spent the first year doing community outreach, going to neighborhood councils and homeowner groups,” project manager Phil Simmons said. “After knocking on doors and asking residents what they wanted to see, we heard two messages loud and clear: we desperately need worker housing, and we don’t want it in the neighborhoods.”
According to Simmons, there is hardly any housing available for workers within the vicinity of the West L.A. auto group. Currently, the Martin Expo Town Center will be prospectively comprised of 516 apartments, with 67,000 square feet of neighborhood/community-serving retail and 200,000 square feet of office component.
Both Martin and Simmons agreed that by and large, the main concerns from the community are centering around traffic.
“Being a transit-oriented development (TOD), [transit] has become the overarching goal: to accommodate L.A.’s growth in a way that will capitalize on the transit opportunities coming in across the street,” Simmons said.
According to the Martin Expo Town Center’s website, a TOD is “a residential or commercial area designed to maximize access to public transit.”
Other potential solutions that will help alleviate the traffic issue are continuously being discussed.
“The apartments will have several programs that are in the works. One, for example, is pre-leasing to only those who are within walking distance of where they work,” Simmons said. “Both the housing and the office are being designed as ‘creative residences and offices’ because the demographics that we’re targeting are the people who work in the immediate area [in the creative industries], people who tend to be off-peak travelers. We are trying to do anything we can do to minimize the traffic impact.”
Simmons also mentioned plans to coordinate with Metro to promote transit usage, as well as car-share and bike-share programs.
Currently, the project leaders are in the process of responding to feedback submitted during the public comment period.
“The response to comments will take about four to six weeks, and then the EIR will be adjusted accordingly,” Simmons said. “We’ll make sure that everybody who has a responsible comment will be addressed.”
The project will then undergo a series of four public hearings that all developments must undergo.
“During this time, four different entities, including the City Council, will be weighing in on the project and making suggestions for possible modification,” Simmons said. “We’re hoping that by the time the hearings start, we would have already incorporated all of the responsible feedback so that everybody is walking through the process hand-in-hand.”
Simmons said that the project leaders have been communicating with the Brentwood Community Council (BCC) among other Brentwood community groups, as well as Mar Vista and Westwood neighborhood groups. The West L.A. Neighborhood Council is the development team’s official neighborhood council.
BCC members preferred to refrain from comment at this time.
For more information on the Martin Expo Town Center, visit martinexpotowncenter.com.
