Office building OK’d

A new two-story office building will replace a smaller, obsolete one in the 32000 block of Agoura Road, but if the architect and planners have done their jobs correctly, they’re hoping that when the dust settles, the neighbors won’t notice the difference (except, perhaps, that the landscaping has improved).

Warner Pacific Insurance, which occupies the 9,200 square-foot, single-story building adjacent the site, acquired the old Coast Savings and Loan Bank building with the intention of expanding onto the property. But the additional 4,200 square feet simply wasn’t enough—a 15,000 square-foot building was needed.

To fit the proposed new building onto the 39,000 square-foot lot, architect Gary Heathcote proposed combining the two neighboring lots into one 1.8 acre parcel and connecting the two buildings with a low-profile, enclosed walkway. This would eliminate the setback requirements along the facing edges of the properties and enable a joint parking lot.

Though City Councilman Robert Slavin was concerned about setting a precedent and maxing out the density for the properties, his was the only dissenting vote.

The new building with feature a Spanish-style exterior, and although nearly 35 feet in height, it will be sunken two and a-half feet lower than the existing Warner Pacific building, so as not to tower over its neighbor.

––Gregory Koteles