Palisades-News-March-18-2015

Page 10 Palisades News March 18, 2015
Martin Town Center Promotes Transit
By SUE PASCOE
Editor
Rendering of the proposed Martin Expo Town Center project proposed for the intersection
of Olympic and Bundy Avenues in West Los Angeles.
Bumper-to-bumper traffic on the
westbound 10 Freeway in the a.m.
and the eastbound 10 in the p.m. is
causing many Westside residents to avoid
the area near the 405/10 intersection during
peak hours.
Therein lies a major challenge for the
proposed Martin Expo Town Center project
at the corner of Bundy and Olympic.
If ultimately approved by the City of
L.A., the Center would include 516 residential
units, 67,000 square feet for retail
and restaurants, and a 12-story office
building anchored by the Martin Cadillac
showroom.
The five-acre development, which currently
includes a Martin Cadillac showroom
and a body and repair shop on the
site, has generated controversy because
many people feel that it will add to traffic
congestion.
“Studies have shown that if transit is
available, more people will use it,” said
Philip Simmons of the Simmons Group, a
land and development management firm.
“There is a huge jobs/housing imbalance in
this area. There are close to 10,000 workers
and little housing for them.”
Located only a half block from the upcoming
Expo/Bundy light-rail station, the
Town Center project is called a Transient
Oriented Development (TOD). People living
near this station will be able to go from
Santa Monica to downtown L.A. and beyond
on public transportation.
“In the first two months the apartments
are available, we will open them up to people
who work within a quarter of a mile of
the complex,” Simmons said. There will be
studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments,
at market-value, with an affordable housing
component.
Riot Games [video game producer of
League of Legends] and its 1,200 employees
are moving from Santa Monica into the
area just north of Martin Cadillac.
“They’ve talked to us several times and
are interested in the project because they
would be close to public transit and there
would be housing for their employees,” said
Martin Cadillac CEO Dan Martin and a
Brentwood resident.
He added, “This [TOD] project has been
an educational process.” As part of his research,
he visited Germany, London, Paris,
Russia and Sweden, and lived in locations
near mass transit. “I wanted to see how it
worked. I walked everywhere, I never had
to use a car.”
In California, if people rent an apartment,
they expect at least one free parking
space, but that would not be the case at the
Town Center apartments.
“Parking will be available, but just like in
Manhattan (New York City) it will be decoupled
from the rent and people will pay
more to have a parking space,” Martin said.
“The reality is people will not have to buy a
car and there will be a car-share program
on site.”
Martin was asked about the counterintuitiveness
of a Cadillac dealer promoting
(Continued on Page 11)
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