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CC - Authorization to Release a Request for Proposals to Prepare a Physical Master Plan for Commercial Property in the Fox Hills Area (Reimagine Fox Hills).
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Meeting Date: October 14, 2019
Contact Person/Dept: Todd Tipton/CDD
Phone Number: (310) 253-5783
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: []
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date:
Public Notification: (E-mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (10/09/19); (E-mail) commercial and residential stakeholders (10/09/19), (E-mail) Fox Hills Neighborhood Association and Fox Hills Alliance (10/09/19);
Department Approval: Sol Blumenfeld, Community Development Director (08/21/19)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council authorize the release of a Request for Proposals (RFP) to prepare a physical Master Plan for commercial property in the Fox Hills area.
BACKGROUND
The City has been discussing a public/private partnership to redevelop Fox Hills business park as a new retail and creative office district with a focus on walkable and bikeable streets. To further that effort, the City Council recently approved the Economic Development Division work plan which includes the production of a Master Plan to help guide future policy decisions for the area. The proposed Master Plan would include:
• Redevelopment of the existing 119 acre industrial park into a creative office, health, and technology campus with shared amenities and open space;
• Creation of a vibrant “main street” of retail and restaurants serving employees and residents during the of daytime and evening;
• Mobility strategies to make it easier to get in and around the area;
• A new “parking district” with parking strategies to replace excessive surface parking lots with convertible garages and flexible managed parking
The plan area is generally located in the southeast corner of Culver City bounded by Slauson Avenue to the North, the 405 freeway to the West, Centinela Avenue to the South and the City of Los Angeles to the East. It is comprised of small to medium scale buildings in a 1980’s conventional office park that abuts high density residential neighborhoods. Most of the properties have surface parking that separate the building edge from the street and create an insular/suburban feel.
The Urban Land Institute recently completed a Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) for the Fox Hills Business Park that provides policy recommendations and noted there are currently few retail and pedestrian amenities for employees, the area lacks pedestrian crossings and has no on-street parking, which promotes fast moving traffic.
While the Westfield Mall and Fox Hills Park are minutes away, access to these amenities requires a round-about pathway along varying topography. The City has hosted several public outreach meetings including the recent TAP with area residents and businesses to discuss development of a Master Plan. Businesses and residents generally like the area but complain there is little to do and no “there” there. While some attendees expressed concern over increased traffic and residential uses, most residents and businesses supported the City’s goals.
The Economic Development Subcommittee has reviewed and provided input regarding the contents of the RFP. The Subcommittee’s input has been incorporated into the draft RFP (Attachment No. 1).
DISCUSSION
Staff recommends the City Council consider authorizing the release of an RFP to prepare a Master Plan that reimagines the commercial area in Fox Hills as a vibrant, creative office district, rebranded and marketed to tech and creative office tenants and redesigned to provide a common open space and biking, shared parking, efficient land parcelization and a new “Main Street” of retail, restaurants and services. The Master Plan would help inform the preparation of new development standards that facilitate area redevelopment.
The selected consultant team will:
• Identify existing Area conditions and constraints (zoning, development standards, building height, lot coverage, parking, open space, use);
• Identify and review existing demographic, economic, zoning, land use and similar data, and compile work completed to date;
• Identify and review industry best practices that are most transferable/applicable to redeveloping the Area as a creative office district with intensified commercial uses and amenities;
• Conduct approximately 20 in-person or by phone stakeholder interviews;
• Facilitate three in-person community outreach meetings; one meeting at commencement of the process, one at the mid-point of the process and one prior to the City Council considering the item;
• Participate in weekly progress meetings with City staff by phone;
• Participate in five in-person or by phone meetings with City Council Subcommittees;
• Attend three in-person Planning Commission meetings;
• Attend three in-person City Council meetings.
The Plan will identify:
1. Land Use - the location and distribution of existing and hypothetical land uses, and how land uses can be reconfigured/combined to increase build out;
2. Circulation - locations for pedestrian/bicycle infrastructure, mobility hubs (car sharing, transit, shuttle connections, etc.), and wayfinding infrastructure as needed to accommodate intensified and varying land uses;
3. Parcelization - how parcels can be combined in order to create larger, more desirable development sites. Development sites should be identified using City compatible GIS digital mapping. The TAP studied two parcels in some detail, the Plan should study three additional parcels in greater detail. All five parcels require a more detailed study regarding the possibility of sharing parking, use of the public right-of-way as additional commercial frontage (with street geometrics) to service hypothetical land uses and the surrounding area;
4. Parking - immediate and long term parking needs, understand how/if parking can be reconfigured (including curb parking) and where it should be located (including beneath Fox Hills Park), if shared parking is feasible, and if other parking strategies/technology should be implemented (automated, etc.);
5. Infrastructure - existing and required utility infrastructure needed to support existing and future uses (including fiber);
6. Financial/Market Feasibility - the financial feasibility of the five parcels identified in No. 3, Parcelization above. The financial feasibility should be determined through pro forma analysis that identifying costs, revenues, and Return on Investment among other things. The pro forma should assume hypothetical uses identified in No. 1, Land Use above. Further, the consultant should identify economic benefits private property owners derived from the Plan, confirm the financial viability of the Plan and its components, and identify funding strategies including incentives;
7. Marketing, Branding and Connectivity - a regional identity for the Area including Westfield Culver City and Area hotels/businesses, and the Area as a Culver City community;
8. Amenities - existing and hypothetical amenities to serve residents and businesses (including common space), where amenities should be located including a Main Street on Bristol Parkway and what strategies can be used to require amenities in future development projects;
9. Implementation - how private property owners can redevelop/reconfigure their properties either individually or collectively to maximize their economic return, and to identify specific entitlement and zoning that must occur to implement the Plan.
Once the RFP process is complete for the preparation of a physical Master Plan for Commercial Property in the Fox Hills area, staff will return to the City Council to consider approval of an agreement with the recommended consultant.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
There is no fiscal impact to release the RFP for the preparation of a physical Master Plan for Commercial Property in the Fox Hills area. Sufficient funds were appropriated in the Community Development Department’s Fiscal Year 2018/2019 budget and will be carried over into FY 2019/2020 to cover the anticipated cost of this procurement.
ATTACHMENTS
1. 2019_10_14 ATT - RFP 1943 - Reimagine Fox Hills
MOTION
That the City Council:
Authorize the release of a Request for Proposals to Prepare a Physical Master Plan for Commercial Property in the Fox Hills Area (Reimagine Fox Hills).