Apartments, condos may replace office space
By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

Development plans in the city of Agoura Hills are changing again due to several factors.

It now appears a 40-acre site on Canwood Street where Denny’s Restaurant is located will have apartments and condominiums and fewer office buildings, according to officials.

Representatives of Los Angeles-based J.H. Snyder, the holder of development rights to the location, met recently with the city staff to discuss plans for mixed uses that would include housing, restaurants and offices.

Last June, Snyder proposed a six-building, 400,000 square-foot office complex on the north side of Canwood Street, east of Kanan Road. The offices replaced the Riverwalk Shopping Center and entertainment complex that another group of developers proposed three years ago.

"We are exploring alternatives to a 100 percent office project," said Cliff Goldstein, a Snyder partner.

At least three different developers have talked with landowners over the past five years about possible plans. Ideas keep shuffling back and forth because of the changing economy, leaving city officials frustrated because they see the site as an important source of income and a way to improve the overburdened Kanan Road/101 Freeway interchange.

The new proposal could still generate as much as $6 million toward improving the freeway interchange, according to city officials.

"You lose a pole sign, you lose I think three billboards and you gain a tax base with some restaurants and office. This I think is a very positive thing for our city," said Agoura Hills City Councilman Denis Weber.

Goldstein said the growing need for affordable housing and a sudden glut in office development prompted the latest revision.

The Calabasas to Westlake Village area has seen hundreds of thousands of square feet in office space added during recent years, but now the economy might be facing a downturn.

Replacing offices with apartments would help provide a better buffer for the Annandale townhomes nearby, Goldstein said.

"It’s a complicated site because of the grade differentials and we have a lot of things we have to be sensitive to," Goldstein said. "We are trying to work and be very sensitive with the site, specifically to the hills and creek, and define something that fits on the property in a proper way."

The area has some 30 different landowners and Goldsten said his company is close to reaching a deal with them about the latest plan.

On a different front, Agoura Hills officials reportedly have opened talks with popular developer Rick Caruso, builder of The Promenade in the Westlake Village portion of Thousand Oaks and The Commons in Calabasas, about developing a pedestrian friendly village center along Agoura Road, south of the 101 Freeway.

Agoura Village would feature shops, restaurants and entertainment.